EXCHANGE 


8061  'LZ  W  1W 


AN  INVESTIGATION 

to  Determine  the  Efficiency  with  which  the 
Compulsory  Attendance  Law  is  Enforced 

IN  PHILADELPHIA 


THESIS 


PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  UNIVER- 
SITY OF  PENNSYLVANIA  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIRE- 
MENTS  FOR  THE   DEGREE  OF   DOCTOR  OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY 


EDWARD  CLINTON  BIXLER 


PHILADELPHIA,  PENNSYLVANIA 
1913 


AN  INVESTIGATION 

to  Determine  the  Efficiency  with  which  the 
Compulsory  Attendance  Law  is  Enforced 

IN  PHILADELPHIA 


THESIS 


PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  UNIVER- 
SITY OF  PENNSYLVANIA  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIRE- 
MENTS FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY" 


EDWARD  CLINTON  BIXLER 


PHILADELPHIA.    PENNSYLVANIA 
1913 


~Ci 


CHAPTER  I. 
COMPULSORY  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Modern  compulsory  education  has  its  origin  in  the  desire  for 
universal  education  at  the  time  that  the  State  was  beginning  to  assume 
the  function  of  educating  the  people.  The  reformers  everywhere 
aimed  to  perpetuate  their  faith  by  educating  the  people.  "The  keynote 
of  this  attempt  was  struck  by  Luther  in  his  address  to  the  councilmen 
of  all  the  towns  of  Germany,  in  1524.  He  argued  that,  if  a  ruler  can 
compel  military  service  of  his  subjects,  he  can  also  compel  the  children 
to  attend  school  as  both  are  for  the  defence  and  welfare  of  the  coun- 
ry."  "Calvin,  at  Geneva,  as  far  as  possible,  made  education  obliga- 
tory. By  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  principle  of  compulsory 
education  had  become  an  essential  part  of  the  educational  creed  of 
Protestant  Germany,  and,  spreading  through  other  Protestant  coun- 
tries, soon  came  to  be  an  accomplished  fact  in  some.  Holland  at- 
tained a  higher  standard  than  could  be  found  anywhere.  All,  even 
the  lowest  classes,  could  read  and  write. ''f 

From  Holland  and  England  the  movement  spread  to  America. 
The  early  New  England  settlers  were  educated  and  in  sympathy  with 
the  movement  for  universal  education.  "The  Massachusetts'  law  of 
1642  was  a  public  assertion  of  the  right  of  the  State  to  educate  the 
child  in  default  of  the  parent  to  do  his  own  duty.  The  Massachu- 
setts' general  court  authorized  its  officials  to  look  into  the  homes  of  the 
people  and  to  unmask  parental  greed,  neglect  and  abuse;  it  even  as- 
serted supreme  authority  to  take  the  child  from  its  parents  and  edu- 
cate it  at  the  public  expense. "|  The  Connecticut  Colony,  in  1650, 
and  the  New  Haven  Colony,  in  1655,  passed  laws  containing  a  provi- 
sion for  obligatory  education.  These  laws  were  sufficient  for  their 
time.  "Their  successful  administration  was  due  primarily  to  the  fav- 
orable conditions  under  which  they  were  established.  The  people 
were  homogeneous  and  well-to-do.  They  were  intelligent  and  indus- 
trious, "t  This  condition  of  affairs  existed  for  almost  two  hundred 
years  until  immigration,  manufacturing  and  wealth  broke  up  the  form- 


*Painter,  Luther  on  Education. 

fPerrin,  History  of  Compulsory  Education  in  New  England. 
JAnnual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  1893-94, 
V.  1,  663. 

263986 


erly  homogeneous  people  into  classes,  and  the  public  schools  were 
losing  their  efficiency,  and  the  system  its  vitality.  "The  concentra- 
tion of  the  population  in  the  manufacturing  and  railroad  centres  aggra- 
vated the  evil.  There  was  less  home-work  for  the  children,  less  op- 
portunity for  parental  oversight  and  control  and  stronger  street 
temptations.  So  absenteeism  and  truancy  increased.  Thousands  of 
children  were  brought  into  the  States  from  England,  Ireland  and  Scot- 
land, where  education  was  at  its  lowest  ebb — children  who  had  never 
seen  inside  a  schoolroom."* 

Massachusetts  was  the  first  State  to  direct  legislation  to  the 
schools  to  remedy  this  evil.  In  1850  a  truant  law  was  passed,  follow- 
ed by  a  compulsory  attendance  law  in  1852.  "This  law,  like  many 
of  the  earlier  laws  of  compulsory  attendance,  attracted  little  atten- 
tion, and  there  is  no  account  of  its  enforcement,  even  in  the  State  re- 
ports."! This  law  was  strengthened  by  additional  acts  and  amend- 
ments, especially  in  1873  and  1889,  so  that  the  towns  were  not  only 
requested  but  compelled  to  make  provision  for  the  execution  of  the 
law. 

Since  the  passage  of  the  Massachusetts'  law,  other  states  have 
directed  their  attention  to  prohibiting  children  from  being  imposed 

TABLE    I. PROGRESS    OF    THE    ADOPTION     OF    COMPULSORY    SCHOOL 

ATTENDANCE  LAWS. 


Year 

Number    of    Slates    and 
Territories  having   com- 
pulsory   school     attend- 
ance laws. 

Population   un- 
der compulsory 
school     attend- 
ance laws. 

Population      of 
the     United 

States. 

Per    cent,    under 
compulsory 
school    attend- 
ance laws. 

1870 

3 

1,919,602 

38,558,371 

4.98 

1875 

16 

13,412,462 

43,700,554 

30.69 

1880 

17 

18,414,631 

50,155,783 

36.72 

1885 

23 

25,898,527 

56,221,868 

46.06 

1890 

28 

30,920,711 

62,622,250 

49.38 

1895 

29 

39,970,360 

68,748,950 

58.14 

1900 

32 

49,394,291 

75,994,575 

65.00 

1905 

35 

£60,156,526 

82,584,061 

72.84 

jThis  includes  an  estimated  population  of  692,600  subject  to  com- 
pulsory school  attendance  laws  in  certain  counties  and  cities  in  Maryland, 
North  Carolina  and  Tennessee. 

upon  by  greedy,  ignorant  and  lazy  parents  who  would  put  them  to 
work  at  a  very  early  age.     Now  thirty-seven  states  and  territories 

*Martin,  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  System, 
t Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner    of   Education,    1888-89, 
V.  1,  471  sq. 


with  the  District  of  Columbia  and  three  states  in  part,  including  over 
seventy  per  cent  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  are  under  such 
laws,  more  or  less  vigorously  enforced.  Table  I  shows  the  number 
of  states  and  territories  and  people  where  compulsory  attendance 
laws  exist,  and  the  population  of  the  United  States  at  the  periods 
named,  as  given  by  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  Re- 
port for  1906,  V.  2,  page  1267. 

With  this  spread  of  compulsory  school  attendance  laws,  the  ques- 
tion may  arise  as  to  what  influence  they  have  had  upon  the  enrollment 
and  attendance,  both  in  the  United  States  and  in  the  states  having 
such  laws  in  comparison  with  those  that  have  not  or  that  have  passed 
them  so  recently  that  no  satisfactory  comparisons  can  be  made.  The 
irregular  line  in  Chart  I  shows  the  school  enrollment  of  the  United 
States  for  every  year  from  1870-71  to  1906-07.  In  1899-00,  20.51 
per  cent  of  the  people  in  the  United  States  were  enrolled  in  the 
schools.  A  broken  line  has  been  drawn  to  show  how  many  children 
ought  to  have  been  in  school  in  the  census  years  1880,  1890  and  1900 
and  1907  (estimated),  if  the  same  per  cent  of  the  people  had  been  in 
school  as  were  enrolled  in  1899-00.  Since  the  broken  line  shows  the 
increase  in  enrollment  based  on  a  corresponding  increase  in  popula- 
tion, the  amount  of  difference,  in  numbers,  between  such  an  increase 
and  the  actual  enrollment  represented  by  the  irregular  line  can  easily 
be  seen. 

In  Chart  II  is  shown  the  per  cent  of  the  population  enrolled  in 
the  United  States,  its  five  divisions  and  Pennsylvania,  at  the  periods 
noted  on  the  chart.  The  divisions  are  those  used  by  the  Census 
Bureau  and  by  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education.  The 
chart  shows  the  rapid  increase  in  enrollment  in  the  South  Atlantic 
and  South  Central  Divisions  where  compulsory  attendance  laws  are 
not  in  force,  except  in  a  few  states.  The  North  Atlantic  and  North 
Central  Divisions  show  a  steady  decline  in  the  per  cent  of  enrollment, 
and  in  these  divisions  every  state  has  had  a  compulsory  attendance  law 
for,  at  least,  ten  years.  The  Western  Division  gives  the  best  record 
under  compulsory  attendance  laws,  and  is  the  only  division  which 
shows  no  decline  since  1900.  Possibly  the  comparison  between  the 
South  Atlantic  and  South  Central  Divisions  and  the  others  is  not  just 
for  the  first  two,.decades  in  question  because  of  the  reconstruction  of 
their  public  school  systems  during  the  Seventies,  and  the  help  given 
from  outside  sources. 


CHART  I. — NUMBER  OF  PUPILS  ENROLLED  IN  THE  PUPLIC  SCHOOLS 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


I.     Enrollment.  II.     Estimated  Enrollment. 

CHART  II. — PER  CENT  OF  THE  POPULATION  ENROLLED  IN  THI 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


United  States. 
II.     North  Atlantic  Division. 

III.  South  Atlantic  Division. 

IV.  South  Central  Division. 


V.  North  Central  Division. 

VI.  Western  Division. 
VII.     Pennsylvania. 


Chart  II  is  misleading  in  showing  any  effect  of  compulsory  at- 
tendance laws  that  tended  to  an  increase  in  enrollment,  if  the  effect 
of  the  law  is  to  be  judged  from  that  standpoint.  It  does  show  that  in 
1907  the  states  were  educating  less  children,  according  to  population, 
than  in  1900.  While  this  decrease  is  not  satisfactorily  explained  by 
the  rapid  rise  in  adult  immigration,  it  may  be,  in  part,  due  to  the 
failure  of  increased  school  accommodations  to  keep  pace  with  the 
rapid  growth  of  school  population.  There  is,  at  least,  room  for 
doubt  that  the  estimated  decrease  is  due  to  less  efficient  administration 
of  compulsory  attendance  laws. 

The  question  may  arise  whether  there  are  relatively  as  many  of 
the  children  in  school  today  as  ten  or  twenty  years  ago.  This  can 
be  tested  for  the  census  years  only.  A  comparison  of  the  last  three 
censuses  will  be  adequate  to  the  purpose.  According  to  the  census  of 
1880,  34.3  per  cent  of  the  population  was  5  to  19  years  inclusive.  In 
1879-80,  19.67  per  cent  of  the  population  and  57.3  per  cent  of  the 
children  5  to  19  years  inclusive  were  enrolled  in  the  public  schools.  In 
1890  the  per  cent  of  children  5  to  19  years  inclusive  had  decreased  to 
33.8  per  cent  of  the  population.  The  enrollment  for  1889-90  had 
increased  to  20.32  per  cent  of  the  population  and  to  60.1  per  cent  of 
the  children  5  to  19  years  inclusive.  In  1900  the  per  cent  of  child- 
ren 5  to  19  years  inclusive  had  decreased  to  32.3  per  cent  of  the  pop- 
ulation. The  enrollment  for  1899-00  had  increased  to  20.51  per  cent 
of  the  population  and  to  63.5  per  cent  of  the  children  5  to  19  years  in- 
clusive. These  figures,  which  are  the  only  ones  upon  which  any  just 
and  accurate  conclusion  can  be  based,  show  an  increase  in  enrollment, 
in  proportion  to  the  population  of  school  age,  for  the  whole  period, 
which  is  steady  for  the  census  years.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  whether 
a  decrease  in  the  number  of  children  5  to  19  years  inclusive,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  population,  explains  the  steady  decrease  in  the  per  cent  of 
population  enrolled  during  the  years  since  the  last  census,  although 
this  seems  to  be  a  plausible  explanation.  But  since  no  rate  of  decrease 
in  the  per  cent  of  children  5  to  19  years  inclusive  can  be  established 
with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  and  any  estimation  of  the  proportion  of 
such  children  enrolled  could  therefore  not  be  expressed  in  figures, 
with  safety,  all  conclusions  as  to  the  probable  number  or  per  cent  are 
indeterminable. 

Chart  III  shows  the  per  cent  of  the  population  5  to  1 8  years  en- 
rolled in  school,  for  the  United  States,  its  divisions  and  Pennsylvania, 


at  the  periods  noted  on  the  chart,  from  figures  based  on  the  Report  of 
the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  1907,  V.  II,  page  549. 
In  considering  the  charts  of  this  chapter  it  must  be  held  in  mind  that 
almost  all  the  states  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  South  Central  Divisions 
have  no  compulsory  attendance  laws.  For  the  period  1899-00  to 
1906-07  this  chart  does  not  present  a  very  favorable  record  for  any 
division  except  the  Western.  No  explanation  for  this  can  be  given, 
unless,  as  stated  above,  the  next  census  may  reveal  a  much  lower  num- 
ber of  children  5  to  19  years  inclusive  or  5  to  1 8  years,  in  proportion 
to  population,  or  show  that  the  private  schools  are  increasing  in  num- 
bers. The  school  censuses  of  the  states  ought  to  give  some  basis  for 
proving  the  possible  correctness  of  the  figures  given  above.  Some  di- 
visions show  a  lower  per  cent  of  the  number  of  children  5  to  18  years 
enrolled  in  1906-07  than  they  did  in  1870-71.  This  is  true  of  Penn- 
sylvania which  shows  a  steady  decline  since  1871. 

Since  it  is  both  of  interest  and  importance  for  the  problem  under 
consideration  to  find  out  what  opportunities  are  offered  to  the  children 
to  obtain  an  education  as  well  as  to  show  what  has  actually  been  ac- 
complished in  numbers,  the  length  of  the  school  year  has  been  indi- 
cated on  a  chart,  from  figures  based  on  the  Report  of  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education,  1907,  V.  II.  page  553.  If  the 
school  year  is  lengthened,  there  may  be  a  tendency  to  drop  out  earlier. 
The  children  may  become  tired  of  school  or  the  parents  may  decide 
that  the  children  have  received  sufficient  education  for  the  work  they 
may  do  in  life,  at  an  earlier  age,  which  they  accomplished,  in  part, 
through  a  longer  school  year.  In  Chart  IV  the  length  of  the  school 
year,  in  days,  is  given  for  the  United  States,  its  five  divisions  and 
Pennsylvania.  It  is  gratifying  to  discern  that  there  has  been  a  steady 
increase  in  the  length  of  the  school  year  since  1880. 

In  view  of  this  fact  it  will  be  interesting  to  note  how  much  more 
schooling  is  given  to  each  child  enrolled,  each  year,  in  terms  of  days. 
If  our  educational  system  is  undergoing  improvements  and  greater 
opportunities  are  offered  for  gaining  an  education,  it  is  certainly  im- 
portant to  know  what  has  been  the  result  of  these  advantages.  Since 
this  is  not  obtainable  in  statistics  which  indicate  the  amount  of 
knowledge  and  training  gained  by  the  child,  it  is  essential  to,  at  least, 
make  a  comparison  in  days  of  actual  attendance.  This  is  shown  in 
Chart  V  for  the  years  given  at  the  top  of  the  chart.  This  chart  gives 
a  favorable  report  for  the  United  States  and  all  its  divisions,  and  es- 


CHART  III. — PER  CENT  OF  THE  POPULATION  5  TO  18  YEARS  OF 
AGE  ENROLLED  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


CHART  IV. — LENGTH  OF  THE  SCHOOL  YEAR. 


I.  United  States.  V. 

II.  North  Atlantic  Division.  VI. 

III.  South  Atlantic  Division.  VII 

IV.  South  Central  Division. 


North  Central  Division. 
Western  Division. 
Pennsylvania. 


pecially  for  those  divisions  which  showed  a  decrease  in  the  preceding 
charts,  even  under  the  influence  of  the  compulsory  attendance  laws. 
Even  the  increase,  in  the  divisions  not  having  compulsory  attendance 
laws,  in  the  enrollment  shown  in  Charts  II  and  III  does  not  make 
such  a  good  showing  when  measured  in  terms  of  days  schooling  a 
year  for  each  child  enrolled. 

In  Chart  VI  this  matter  has  been  presented  in  a  slightly  dif- 
ferent way.  Here  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States,  its 
different  divisions  and  Pennsylvania  have  been  used  as  a  basis  of  com- 
putation to  test  what  has  actually  been  done  by  our  educational  sys- 
tem, in  terms  of  days.  In  this  chart  great  variations  are  seen.  Almost 
all  the  divisions  are  increasing  the  amount  of  schooling  given  in  pro- 
portion to  population.  This  is  most  marked  in  the  Western  Division, 
but,  excepting  this  division,  the  change  in  amount  has  not  been  so 
marked  since  1900.  Only  one  division  under  compulsory  attendance 
laws  shows  a  decrease. 

The  above  charts  give  some  idea  as  to  what  our  educational  sys- 
tem has  accomplished  during  the  years  1870-71  to  1906-07.  It  is  dis- 
appointing in  that  the  child  does  not  receive  more  days  schooling  each 
year,  considering  the  increase  in  the  length  of  the  school  year,  and  also 
in  the  fact  that  there  is  not  a  larger  per  cent  of  the  children  enrolled 
in  school. 

The  number  of  illiterates,  ten  years  of  age  and  over,  is  also  large 
for  the  United  States  and  especially  for  some  divisions.  In  Chart  VII 
the  per  cent  of  the  population,  ten  years  of  age  and  over,  illiterate,  for 
the  last  three  censuses,  is  shown.  The  decrease  in  per  cent  is  marked 
for  almost  all  the  divisions,  and  Pennsylvania  shows  a  slight  decrease. 
A  comparison  between  the  different  divisions,  in  amount  of  illiteracy, 
is  unfair,  because  in  the  two  Southern  divisions  the  problem  of  educat- 
ing the  negro  still  exists,  and,  in  other  divisions,  especially  where  there 
are  large  manufacturing  and  mining  interests,  the  per  cent  of  foreign 
illiterate  population  is  very  large.  This  is  especially  true  of  Penn- 
sylvania where  64  per  cent  of  the  illiterates  are  foreign  born,  while 
the  number  for  the 'United  States  is  22  per  cent.  Negro  illiterates, 
however,  made  up  only  7  per  cent  of  the  illiterates  of  Pennsylvania 
and  46  per  cent  for  the  United  States.  From  this  it  can  readily  be 
seen  that  a  state  which  has  few  negroes  and  foreigners  should  have  a 
small  number  of  illiterates. 

In  Table  II  the  per  cent  of  illiteracy  for  the  six  largest  cities  of 

10 


CHART  V. — AVERAGE  NUMBER  OF  DAYS  ATTENDED  EACH  YEAR 
BY  EACH  PUPIL  ENROLLED  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


CHART  VI. — DAYS  IN  SCHOOL  EACH  YEAR,   BASED  ON  POPULATION 


I.  United  States. 

II.  North  Atlantic  Division. 

III.  South  Atlantic  Division. 

IV.  South  Central  Division. 


V.  North  Central  Division. 

VI.  Western  Division. 

VII.  Pennsylvania. 

VIII.  Philadelphia. 


11 


CHART  VII. — PER  CENT  OF  THE  POPULATION,  TEN  YEARS  OF  AGE 
AND  OVER,  ILLITERATE. 


TABLE  II. PER  CENT  OF  THE  POPULATION,  TEN  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND 

OVER,  ILLITERATE. 


City 

All 

Native  White 

Foreign   White    \          Negro 

1900 

1890 

1900 

1900                          1900 

New  York 
Philadelphia 
Chicago 
St.  Louis 
Boston 
Baltimore 

6.8 
4.4 
3.9 
4.4 

5.1 

7.2 

7.69 
4.97 
4.63 
5.89 
5.69 
9.80 

0.4 
0.6 
0.2 
0.9 
0.2 
1.3 

13.9 

12.1 

8.2 
9.8 
11.3 
12.9 

10.0 
11.8 
8.0 
21.3 
10.6 
25.8 

the  United  States  has  been  given  for  the  census  years  1890  and  1900. 
The  position  of  Philadelphia  among  the  cities  can  readily  be  seen 
from  the  table.  The  columns  headed  foreign  white  and  negro  show 
clearly  the  effect  immigration  and  the  negro  race  have  in  increasing  the 
per  cent  of  illiteracy. 

But  the  problem  that  is  confronting  the  school  boards  and  public 
is  the  large  army  of  children  of  school  age  that  are  not  enrolled  in 
school,  many  of  whom,  if  neglected,  will  help  to  swell  the  number 
of  illiterates  for  future  decades.  In  Table  III  these  facts  have  been 
presented  for  the  census  year  1900,  as  given  by  the  United  States  cen- 
sus. This  table  shows  that  20.16  per  cent  of  the  children  10  to  14 
years  inclusive  were  not  enrolled  in  school  in  1900.  577,649,  or 
over  9  per  cent,  of  the  illiterates  in  the  United  States  were  between 
the  years  10  to  14  inclusive  in  1900.  The  per  cent  of  non-attendance 

12 


TABLE   III. NUMBER  OF   CHILDREN    IN   SCHOOL  AND   PER  CENT   NOT 

ENROLLED    IN    SCHOOL. 


State,  Territory  or 
City. 

5  to  9  years  inclusive 

10  to  14  years  inclusive 

Census 

Enrolled  in 
school 

c^l 

<y  £  J3 

»  g  g 

•2 
«  "OTJ 

0-   fl  V 

Census 

Enrolled  in 
school 

-*-      -    ^^ 

Ssj 

u  o  o 
v  % 
a 

||3 

United  States 

8,874,123 

4,266,302 

51.92 

8,080,234 

6,451,394 

20.16 

North  Atlantic  Div. 
South  Atlantic       " 
North  Central 
South  Central        " 
Western 

2,110,213 
1,379,742 
3,012,485 
1,939,754 
431,929 

1,288,810 
449,523 
1,740,161 
552,735 
235,073 

38.93 
67.42 
42.24 
71.50 
45.58 

1,908,183 
1,247,791 

2,805,982 
1,738,387 
379,891 

1,655,543 
818,310 
2,475,341 
1,164,245 
337,955 

13.24 
34.42 
11.78 
33.03 
11.04 

Pennsylvania 
Philadelphia 
New  York 
Chicago 
St.  Louis 
Boston 
Baltimore 

686,605 
125,409 
354,747 
187,395 
58,627 
48,896 
51,097 

390,412 

78,812 
216,620 
103,937 
36,726 
34,587 
27,056 

43.14 
37.16 
38.94 
44.54 
37.36 
29.26 
47.05 

624,241 
109,886 
301,264 
160,350 
54,974 
42,362 
48,904 

522,454 

87,006 
259,384 
115,927 
44,649 
39,031 
38,632 

16.31 
20.81 
13.90 
27.70 
18.78 
7.86 
21.00 

for  1900  has  also  been  given  for  the  six  largest  cities  of  the  United 
States  in  order  to  compare  the  conditions  in  Philadelphia  with  those 
in  other  cities.  In  the  per  cent  of  children  5  to  9  years  inclusive 
not  in  school,  Philadelphia  has  second  place  but  takes  fourth  place 
in  the  per  cent  of  children  10  to  14  years  inclusive  not  enrolled  and 
for  the  per  cent  of  children  5  to  14  years  inclusive  not  enrolled. 

In  view  of  the  facts  presented  above,  the  question  naturally  arises 
as  to  whether  the  compulsory  attendance  laws  are  efficiently  and  effec- 
tively enforced.  Investigations  have  been  made  or  are  being  made  to 
find  out  what  has  actually  been  done.  In  order  to  confine  this  inves- 
tigation to  narrower  limits,  and  to  find  out  whether  the  law  has  been 
effectively  enforced  and  if  not,  as  far  as  possible,  to  ascertain  the  cause, 
Philadelphia  has  been  chosen,  not  that  it  presents  any  peculiarities 
ir  the  execution  of  the  law,  but  because  its  location  permitted  of  such 
investigation  as  was,  the  aim  of  this  thesis,  and,  being  a  large  city  and 
possessing  varied  industries  and  a  foreign  population  of  some  size,  the 
difficulties  confronting  the  bureau  executing  the  compulsory  attendance 
law  would  be  representative.  Before  showing  the  conditions  in  the 
City,  a  short  history  of  the  compulsory  attendance  laws  of  Pennsyl- 
vania will  be  given,  with  charts  added  to  show  the  enrollment  and 
attendance  in  the  State,  outside  of  Philadelphia,  and  also  comparisons 
of  the  enrollments  and  attendance  for  the  last  three  census  years. 

13 


CHAPTER  II. 
COMPULSORY  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  1886  State  Superintendent  Higsbee  advocated  a  census  of  all 
children  6  to  18  years  in  Pennsylvania  so  as  to  determine  how  many 
were  out  of  school  and  the  need  of  legislation  on  the  subject.  He 
wished  also  to  correct  irregularity  of  attendance.  Again,  in  1890, 
he  noted  that  the  population  of  the  State  had  increased  23  per  cent 
in  10  years  and  in  cities  43  per  cent  in  10  years,  but  the  attendance 
in  public  schools,  only  n  per  cent.  Superintendent  Waller  in  his 
Report  for  1892  advocated  compulsory  attendance.  In  his  Report 
for  1894  Superintendent  Schaeffer  argued  for  a  school  census;  and 
also  for  laws  that  would  compel  children  to  go  to  school,  by  the  aid 
of  truant  officers,  if  necessary.  He  also  recommended  the  requirement 
of  a  certificate  showing  a  minimum  of  four  months  attendance  for  all 
who  take  employment  under  15  years  of  age. 

The  first  compulsory  attendance  law  for  the  State  was  passed  in 
1895.  There  is  no  account  of  the  enforcement  of  this  law,  although 
steps  were  taken  with  a  view  to  its  enforcement,  as  was  the  case  in 
Philadelphia.  In  1897  an  amendment  to  the  law  was  passed,  which 
extended  the  age  limit  from  13  to  16  years  and  the  required  time  in 
school  from  16  weeks  to  70  per  cent  of  the  time  the  schools  were  in 
session.  Provisions  were  made  for  special  schools  for  the  incorrigible. 
Superintendent  Schaeffer  favored  a  mild  course  in  enforcing  this  law. 
In  his  Report  for  1897  ne  said  that  "probably  the  most  important 
duty  is  to  create  public  opinion  in  favor  of  punishing  parents  and  guar- 
dians whose  negligence  deprives  the  child  of  its  right  to  an  educa- 
tion. Ignorance  and  illiteracy  will  not  be  banished  from  Pennsylvania 
until  all  the  people  feel  that  a  child's  right  to  life,  health,  happiness, 
knowledge  and  moral  training  must  not  be  abridged  either  by  cupi- 
dity, carelessness  and  indigence  of  parents  or  by  waywardness  and 
shortsightedness  of  children  themselves."  The  subject  was  again  con- 
sidered and  July  n,  1901,  an  act  became  law  which  was  more  effi- 
cient than  any  of  the  former  compulsory  attendance  laws  of  the  State. 
This  law  provided  that  all  children  between  8  and  13  years  and  all 
between  13  and  16  years,  not  employed,  should  be  in  school.  If  no 
school  is  within  two  miles  by  the  nearest  traveled  road,  the  child  is 
exempt  from  compulsory  attendance.  The  boards  have  power  to 
decide  what  are  lawful  and  not  lawful  excuses  for  absence.  While 

14 


the  period  of  attendance  includes  the  entire  school  year,  the  boards 
have  the  power  to  diminish  this  to  70  per  cent  of  the  time  the  schools 
are  in  session,  in  their  respective  districts. 

In  order  that  the  districts  may  receive  their  share  of  the  State 
appropriation,  the  school  boards  must  file  affidavits  with  the  Depart- 
ment of  PuDiic  Instruction  to  the  effect  that  they  have  complied  with 
the  requirements  of  the  law  of  compulsory  attendance.  If  the  law  is 
not  enforced,  one-fourth  of  the  annual  appropriation  is  withheld. 
This  law  was  amended  by  the  Act  of  May  29,  1907,  which  authorized 
attendance  officers  to  enter  any  place,  wherein  any  gainful  occupation 
is  carried  on,  to  find  whether  any  children  employed  there  should  be 
legally  in  school,  and  to  prescribe  methods  of  procedure  and  penalties 
in  case  of  violation  of  the  law.  The  amendment  raised  the  age  at 
which  pupils  may  quit  school  and  go  to  work  from  13  to  14  years. 

Accepting  the  year  1897  as  tne  tmie  of  the  passage  of  the  first 
compulsory  attendance  law  of  this  State  that  the  school  boards  at- 
tempted to  enforce,  sufficient  time  has  passed  to  note  whether  there 
has  been  any  effect  on  the  attendance  and  enrollment  of  the  schools  of 
the  State.  By  reference  to  Chart  II  it  is  seen  that  the  enrollment  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  steadily  decreased  dur- 
ing the  years  from  1870  to  1907.  In  Chart  III  was  given  the  per 
cent  of  the  population  5  to  18  years  enrolled  and  there  the  decrease 
for  Pennsylvania  is  not  so  great  as  in  Chart  II.  The  length  of  the 
school  year  and  the  number  of  days  schooling  given  yearly  to  each  child 
enrolled  has  steadily  increased,  while  the  number  of  days  in  school  a 
year,  in  proportion  to  population,  has  greatly  increased  from  1880  to 
1900,  when,  until  1907,  it  made  a  slight  decrease,  but  this  represents 
the  amount  of  schooling  for  the  State,  exclusive  of  Philadelphia. 
Separate  statistics  and  charts  will  be  given  to  show  what  has  been 
done,  both  for  the  sake  of  comparison  and  because  the  school  statistics 
of  Philadelphia  and  the  rest  of  the  State  are  not  reported  in  the  same 
way  on  a  number  of  points,  especially  in  respect  to  the  periods  cover- 
ed in  annual  statistics,  for  which  Philadelphia  uses  the  calender  and 
the  rest  of  the  State,  the  school  year. 

In  Chart  VIII  is  given  the  enrollment  and  attendance  of  the 
State,  exclusive  of  Philadelphia,  also  attendance  comparisons  based  on 
enrollment.  Chart  IX  shows  comparisons  of  the  enrollment  and  at- 
tendance of  the  State  for  the  last  three  census  years  and  1908.  The 
upper  unbroken  line  represents  the  enrollment  at  the  periods  given. 

15 


CHART    VIII. — SCHOOL     ENROLLMENT  AND    ATTENDANCE 
PENNSYLVANIA,   EXCLUSIVE   OF    PHILADELPHIA,   WITH 
ATTENDANCE  COMPARISONS  BASED  ON  ENROLLMENT. 


IN 


I.  Enrollment. 

II.  Attendance. 

III.  Attendance  estimated  on  1907-08  enrollment. 

IV.  Attendance  estimated  on  1899-00  enrollment. 
V.  Attendance  estimated  on  1889-90  enrollment. 

VI.  Attendance  estimated  on  1879-80  enrollment. 


The  upper  broken  lines  show  what  the  enrollment  should  have  been 
if  the  same  per  cent  of  the  population  had  been  -enrolled  at  all  the 
periods  as  at  the  one  used  as  a  basis  of  comparison.  This  chart  shows 
that  the  per  cent  of  the  population  enrolled  has  steadily  decreased  since 
1880  and  in  1907-08  was  over  16  per  cent  less  than  the  total  enroll- 
ment, based  on  the  per  cent  for  1880.  As  in  the  various  divisions  of 
the  United  States,  so  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  there  has  been  a 

16 


CHART  IX. — SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE  AND  ENROLLMENT  COMPARI- 
SONS FOR  PENNSYLVANIA,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  PHILADELPHIA, 


I.  Enrollment. 

II.  Estimated  on  1879-80  enrollment. 

III.  Estimated  on  1889-90  enrollment. 

IV.  Estimated  on  1899-00  enrollment. 
V.  Estimated  on  1907-08  enrollment. 


1.  Attendance. 

2.  Estimated  on  1879-80  attendance. 

3.  Estimated  on  1899-00  attendance. 

4.  Estimated  on  1907-08  attendance. 

5.  Estimated  on  1889-90  attendance. 


steady  decrease  in  enrollment,  although  the  State  has  had  a  compulsory 
attendance  law  since  1897.  The  lower  unbroken  line  of  Chart  IX 
represents  the  actual  attendance  and  the  lower  broken  lines,  the  esti- 
mated attendance  based  on  the  population  of  the  census  years  and  the 
estimated  population  for  1908.  Here  again  1879-80  leads,  although 
the  decrease  is  not  regular  and  1899-00  shows  a  marked  increase  over 
1889-90,  but  there  is  a  drop  in  the  period  1900  to  1908. 


17 


Leaving  out  of  the  question  the  per  cent  of  the  population  enroll- 
ed or  in  daily  attendance  and  comparing  the  attendance  with  the  en- 
rollment, the  results  are  much  more  favorable.  The  broken  lines  of 
Chart  VIII  represent  the  number  that  would  have  been  in  daily 
attendance  at  school,  if  the  per  cent  of  daily  attendance  had  been  the 
same  as  in  the  year  that  has  been  made  the  basis  of  comparison  in  each 
case.  While  in  Chart  IX  1879-80  held  first  place  in  the  per  cent  of 
population  enrolled  and  in  daily  attendance,  it  has  now  dropped  to 
fourth  place,  and  there  has  been  a  steady  increase  during  the  years 
until  1908.  This  shows  that,  while  the  compulsory  attendance  law 
has  not  succeeded  in  materially  increasing  the  enrollment,  there  has 
been  a  marked  improvement  in  lessing  the  evils  of  irregular  attend- 
ance. 

In  order  to  be  just  and  fair  in  the  comparisons  and  not  give  a 
false  impression  as  to  the  effect  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law 
upon  attendance  or  enrollment,  attention  must  be  called  to  the  de- 
creasing proportion  of  the  population  5  to  19  years  inclusive.  The 
decrease  for  the  State  for  the  twenty  years,  1880  to  1900,  was  3.3 
per  cent,  while  the  decrease  for  the  United  States  for  the  same  period 
was  2.0  per  cent.  The 'result  of  the  decreasing  number  of  children 
for  the  periods  compared  has  been  shown  for  the  United  States, 
so  it  has  been  considered  sufficient  merely  to  mention  the  fact  of  a 
decrease  in  Pennsylvania  and  state  the  per  cent  of  decrease. 

CHAPTER  III. 
COMPULSORY  EDUCATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

In  Philadelphia  no  formal  action  was  taken  to  execute  the 
compulsory  attendance  law  until  it  was  amended  in  1897.  The 
Board  recognized  the  difficulty  that  confronted  them  in  gaining 
the  information  necessary,  and  that  it  was  highly  improbable  that  in- 
different and  illiterate  parents  and  those  whose  chief  desire  was  that 
their  children  should,  at  the  earliest  age  possible,  earn  a  contribution 
towards  the  support  of  the  family  would  accept  with  good  grace  the 
enforcement  of  the  law  in  cases  where  the  earnings  of  the  child  must 
cease  through  such  enforcement.  Furthermore,  some  provisions  of  the 
act  were  such  as  to  enable  unwilling  parents  or  guardians  to  impede 
the  accomplishment  of  its  beneficient  purposes, — the  right  of  the  par- 
ent or  guardian  to  designate  the  particular  school  to  which  the  child 

18 


should  be  sent  and  thus  perhaps  defeat  the  purpose  of  the  law  by 
naming  a  school  already  filled  to  the  limit  of  its  capacity.  Added  to 
this,  the  children  subject  to  this  law  might  live  in  localties  where 
the  schools  were  already  crowded  or,  in  the  absence  of  a  compulsory 
vaccination  law,  be  ordered  from  school  through  the  failure  of  their 
parents  to.  have  them  vaccinated.*  In  1897,  however,  the  execution 
of  the  law  was  entrusted  to  a  committee  of  the  Board  of  Education 
and  the  practical  management  of  its  enforcement  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Superintendent  who,  in  turn,  delegated  the  matter  to 
one  of  his  Associates.  The  work  continued  under  this  organization 
until  1901  when  the  present  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  was 
organized. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  law  has  been  in  operation  in  Phila- 
delphia for  a  period  of  over  eleven  years.  In  taking  up  the  results  of 
this  work,  as  shown  by  the  various  city  reports,  attention  will  first  be 
directed  to  the  statistics  which  show  the  attendance  and  enrollment. 
For  the  sake  of  a  convenient  comparison,  these  statistics  will  cover  a 
period  of  thirty  years,  including  three  census  years  in  which  a  com- 
parison can  be  made  between  population,  enrollment  and  attendance. 
Whenever  the  statistics  quoted  do  not  cover  the  full  period,  it  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  records  were  found  lacking.  Unfortunately,  no 
direct  comparisons  can  be  made  between  the  City  and  State  or  the 
United  States,  in  the  matter  of  enrollment,  as  it  was  not  possible 
to  obtain  the  total  enrollment  for  the  different  years  covered  and,  when 
obtainable  from  the  reports  of  the  City  before  1892,  was  not  servicea- 
ble for  comparison  from  the  failure  to  eliminate  duplicate  names.  But 
the  Reports  for  1907  and  1908  give  this  information.  Hence,  basing 
our  information  on  the  statistics  of  1907,  it  was  found  that  the  total 
enrollment,  excluding  duplicates,  is  27.15  per  cent  higher  than  the 
average  enrollment,  using  the  latter  as  the  basis  of  comparison,  and 
24.93  per  cent  higher  than  the  enrollment  on  December  3Oth. 

The  upper  unbroken  line  of  Chart  X  shows  the  enrollment  on 
December  30,  in  Philadelphia,  for  thirty  years.  The  lower  unbrok- 
en line  shows  the  average  daily  attendance  for  the  same  period.  There 
is  a  gradual  rise,  with  a  few  exceptions,  in  both  lines,  and  their  dis- 


*Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Philadelphia,  1897. 

tin  the  comparisons  in  this  chapter  enrollment  on  December  30th,  has 
been  used  instead  of  average  enrollment  because  the  latter  was  not  avail- 
able for  every  year  of  the  period  1877  to  1907. 

19 


CHART  X. — SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT  AND  ATTENDANCE  OF  PHILA- 
DELPHIA, WITH  ATTENDANCE  COMPARISONS  BASED  ON 
ENROLLMENT. 


Ill 


UO - 


136  _ 


I.  Enrollment. 

II.  Attendance. 

III.  Attendance  estimated  on  1890  enrollment. 

IV.  Attendance  estimated  on  1880  enrollment. 
V.  Attendance  estimated  on  1907  enrollment. 

VI.  Attendance  estimaten  on  1900  enrollment. 

20 


CHART  XL — SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT  AND  ATTENDANCE  COMPARI- 
SONS FOR  PHILADELPHIA. 


I.    Enrollment.                                                      1.  Attendance. 

II.    Estimated  on  1880  enrollment.                      2.  Estimated  on  1880  attendance. 

III.  Estimated  on  1900  and  1907  enrollments.     3.  Estimated  on  1890  attendance. 

IV.  Estimated  on  1890  enrollment.                      4.  Estimated  on  1907  attendance. 

5.  Estimated  on  1900  attendance. 


21 


tance  apart  varies  little,  but  unfortunately,  the  variation  is  greatest 
for  the  period  that  interests  us  most. 

Before  actually  testing  the  results  of  the  attendance  and  enroll- 
ment for  the  period,  by  a  comparison  with  the  actual  population  avail- 
able or  of  school  age,  a  slight  digression  will  be  made  to  see  what  the 
city  is  doing  educationally,  that  is,  numerically,  in  units  of  the  whole 
population.  These  facts  can  be  given  for  the  census  years  only, 
with  a  comparison  of  school  statistics  and  estimates  for  the  year 
1907.  The  two  unbroken  lines  of  Chart  XI  represent  the  enroll- 
ment on  December  3Oth,  and  the  average  attendance  for  the  years 
named.  Using  these  lines  as  bases,  projected  broken  lines  have  been 
drawn  showing  what  the  enrollment  and  average  attendance  ought 
to  have  been,  if  the  same  per  cent  of  the  population  had  been  in 
school  in  the  other  census  years  as  was  in  school  in  the  year  used 
as  a  basis  for  comparison  in  each  case.  This  chart  does  not  give  a 
very  promising  outlook  or  grounds  for  proof  to  the  efficiency  of  the 
compulsory  attendance  law,  especially  in  the  enrollment,  although 
there  has  been  no  drop  in  this  line  since  1890.  By  reference  to  the 
preceding  chart  it  will  be  seen  that,  unfortunately  for  the  compari- 
son, the  year  1890  shows  a  lower  enrollment  than  the  preceding 
year.  The  average  attendance  lines  do  not  show  as  much  variation 
and  also  show  a  slight  increase  since  1900.  No  comparisons  be- 
tween enrollment  and  average  attendance  were  intended  in  this  chart, 
although  it  is  of  interest  to  note  the  broken  average  attendance  line 
based  on  the  1880  per  cent,  which  is  above  the  broken  enrollment 
line  based  on  the  1890  per  cent.  But  this  chart  is  not  to  be  taken 
to  test  the  actual  increase  in  attendance  or  enrollment,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  no  account  has  been  taken  in  the  comparison  of  the  actual 
number  of  children  of  school  age.  That  this  is  a  matter  worthy  of 


TABLE  IV. DECREASE  IN  POPULATION  5  TO  19  YEARS  INCLUSIVE 

FROM  l88o  TO  I9OO. 


STATE  OR  CITY 

Per  cent  of  population  5  to  19  years  inclusive 

Per  cent  of  de- 
crease in  20  yrs. 

1900 

1890 

1880 

United  States 
Pennsylvania 
Philadelphia 

32.3 
30.3 

33.8 
32.0 
27.5 

34.3 
33.6 
26.6 

2.0 
3.3 

•  9t 

|Per  cent  of  decrease  in  ten  years. 

22 


CHART  XII. — SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT  AND  AVERAGE  ATTENDANCE 

COMPARISONS  FOR  PHILADELPHIA,  BASED  ON  THE  WHOLE 

NUMBER  OF  CHILDREN  5  TO  19  YEARS  INCLUSIVE. 


760 


HO 
736 

ml. 


I.  Enrollment. 

II.  Estimated  on  1900  and  1907  enrollments. 

III.  Estimated  on  1880  enrollment. 

IV.  Estimated  on  1890  enrollment. 


1.  Attendance. 

2.  Estimated  on  1880  attendance. 

3.  Estimated  on  1907  attendance. 

4.  Estimated  on  1890  attendance. 

5.  Estimated  on  1900  attendance. 


consideration  can  easily  be  seen  from  Table  IV,  giving  the  per  cent 
of  children  for  the  different  age  periods,  places  and  census  years 
mentioned  in  the  table. 

Table  IV  is  given  to  show  the  necessity  of  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  varying  per  cent  of  the  population  of  school  age,  in  compar- 
ing the  school  enrollments  for  any  years  or  periods  to  see  whether 


23 


there  has  been  an  increase  or  decrease  in  the  number  of  children  en- 
rolled, in  proportion  to  the  population. 

In  Chart  XII  comparisons  similar  to  those  in  Chart  XI  have 
been  made,  using,  however,  the  number  of  childreen  between  5 
and  19  inclusive  as  a  basis  and  taking  into  consideration  a  gradual 
decrease  in  the  number  of  children  as  shown  by  the  average  in  Ta- 
ble IV.  In  this  chart  the  year  1907  shows  the  largest  number  of 
children  enrolled  at  the  end  of  the  year,  for  any  of  the  four  years 
compared.  Of  course,  the  number  of  children  in  1907  is  based  on 
an  estimate,  which  will  be  discussed  later  in  order  to  show  that  the 
estimates  are  rather  too  low  than  too  high.  But  in  case  this  esti- 
mate would  prove  to  be  too  low,  it  would  reduce  the  per  cent  of 
children  enrolled  on  December  3Oth,  1907  and  also  lower  the  rank 
of  this  year  among  the  others.  In  the  matter  of  average  attendance 
the  year  1880  still  holds  first  place,  though  somewhat  lower  in 
comparison  with  the  preceding  chart.  This  chart  is  a  true  index  to 
the  effect  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law  as  seen  by  the  records  of 
attendance  and  enrollment,  although  no  definite  conclusions  can  be 
drawn  without  further  facts  and  proof.  But,  in  passing,  attention 
should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  any  inferences  based  upon  the  grad- 
ual rise  in  enrollment  since  1890  and  the  comparisons  as  shown  by 
the  broken  lines  are  complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  average  attend- 
ance line  does  not  show  as  much  improvement.  Increased  average 
attendance  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  increased  enrollment.  Then 
the  question  may  arise  as  to  how  the  children  can  be  absent 
or  more  irregular  than  before  the  compulsory  attendance  law.  This 
matter  will  be  considered  under  excuses.  In  the  comparisons  for 
Pennsylvania,  exclusive  of  Philadelphia,  however,  increased  average 
attendance  was  found  to  be  more  than  keeping  pace  with  increased 
enrollment. 

In  Chart  X  comparisons  have  been  made  between  enrollment 
on  December  3Oth  of  the  last  three  census  years  and  1907  and  the 
average  attendance  for  those  years.  Here  the  enrollment  has  been 
used  as  the  basis  for  comparison.  The  unbroken  lines  represent  the 
actual  facts  and  the  broken  lines  the  comparisons.  From  the  chart 
it  can  readily  be  ascertained  what  relation  enrollment  bears  to  at- 
tendance at  the  various  periods,  and,  while  the  margin  of  difference 
is  very  great  for  1900,  it  is  slowly  lessening  in  favor  of  average  at- 

24 


CHART  XIII. — PER  CENT  OF  AVERAGE  ATTENDANCE  TO  ENROLL- 
MENT DEC.  30TH,  AND  AVERAGE  ENROLLMENT. 


I.     Per  Cent  of  average  attendance  to  enrollment  Dec.  30th. 
II.     Per  Cent  of  average  attendance  to  average  enrollment. 

tendance.  It  will  be  noticed  also  that  1900  has  the  most  unfavor- 
able record. 

In  Chart  XIII  this  comparison  has  been  made  in  terms  of  per 
cent  of  average  attendance  to  enrollment  December  3Oth  of  each  year 
during  the  period  1877  to  1907.  To  this  has  been  added  a  compari- 
son in  terms  of  per  cent  between  the  average  attendance  and  average 
enrollment  for  each  year  for  which  the  latter  statistic  could  be  ob- 
tained. It  can  be  seen  from  this  that  the  average  enrollment  for 
the  year  does  not  vary  much  from  the  enrollment  December  3Oth. 
The  last  decade  in  the  comparisons  does;not  show  as  high  averages 
as  the  preceding  but  yet  shows  no  decline,  during  its  succeeding 
years.  The  high  per  cent  for  1905,  in  comparison  with  the  years 
immediately  preceding  and  following,  leads  to  the  doubting  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  reported  average  attendance  for  that  year. 

Since  Charts  XI  and  XII  reveal  the  fact  that  there  are  less 
children  in  school,  in  proportion  to  population,  than  two  decades 
ago,  the  question  aries  as  to  whether  school  accommodations  have 
kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  the  number  of  children  of  school  age. 
To  effectively  execute  the  compulsory  attendance  law,  one  of  the 
necessary  conditions  is  a  sufficient  number  of  seats  in  the  schools  to 
accommodate  all  who  apply  for  admission  i  )r  who  are  brought  in  under 

25 


TABLE  V. — AVERAGE   NUMBER  OF   PUPILS  TO  A   ROOM   BASED  ON 


Year 

Enrollment 

Attend- 
ance 

Year 

Enrollment 

Attend- 
ance 

December 

30th 

Average 

December 
30th 

Average 

1907 

40.0 

39.2 

34.3 

1892 

41.1 

41.2 

38.8 

1906 

40.5 

39.7 

34.4 

1891 

41.8 

39  3 

1905 

41.5 

40.3 

38.3 

1890 

42.4 

4~2~9 

40.0 

1904 

41.8 

41.3 

36.1 

1889 

44.6 

44.6 

41.5 

1903 

41.8 

40.8 

35.3 

1888 

45.0 

44.4 

41.2 

1902 

42.1 

40.6 

35.3 

1887 

48.2 

47.7 

44.2 

1901 

41.9 

41.3 

36.5 

1886 

46.2 

46.0 

42.5 

1900 

42.2 

41.0 

35.5 

1885 

47.2 

47.2 

43.6 

1899 

42.0 

41.4 

35.9 

1884 

48.6 

47.9 

43.8 

1898 

41.9 

41.9 

37.0 

1883 

48.6 

48.2 

44.0 

1897 

42.6 

41.7 

38.1 

1882 

48.5 

48.3 

43.7 

1896 

42.6 

41.4 

37.8 

1881 

48.4 

43.5 

1895 

43.2 

42.4 

38.9 

1880 

50.9 

45.4 

1894 

41.2 

41.5 

36.6 

1879 

50.0 

44.6 

1893 

41.9 

40.7 

38.3 

1878 

50.6 



44.6 

the  law.  To  test  adequacy  of  school  accommodations,  Table  V  has 
been  computed  showing  how  many  children  were  in  each  room  each 
year  for  thirty  years.  The  table  has  been  computed  using  the  en- 
rollment on  December  3Oth,  average  enrollment  and  average  attend- 
ance as  bases  respectively.  It  will  be  noted  that  all  three  columns 
show  a  steady  decrease  in  numbers  during  the  period.  Unfortunately, 
this  table  shows  the  averages  for  all  the  public  schools  in  place  of 
limiting  them  to  the  elementary  schools  which  alone  include  about 
all  the  children  who  are  of  compulsory  school  age. 

While  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  leads  to 
increased  efficiency  in  school  work,  it  makes  necessary  the  providing 
of  more  schoolrooms  and  the  employment  of  more  teachers  in  order 
that  the  same  number  of  children  may  be  accommodated.  That  ad- 
equate accommodations  have  not  yet  been  furnished  is  indicated  by 
the  number  of  children  oh  half  time.  A  further  question  as  to 
whether  such  increased  accommodations  as  have  been  provided  have 
been  distributed  with  due  regard  to  the  relative  school  population, 
is  something  difficult  to  determine.  While  inadequacy  of  school  ac- 
commodations may  have  prevented  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory 
attendance  law  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  law  makes  it  incumbent 
upon  school  boards  to  furnish  sufficient  accommodations  for  all  chil- 
dren who  apply  for  admission  to  the  schools  or  are  brought  in  under 
the  law.  Therefore,  insufficient  school  accommodations  can  not  be 
used  as  an  excuse  for  not  fully  enforcing  the  law,  although  the  Bu- 
reau of  Compulsory  Education  is  relieved  of  the  responsibility  from 


26 


failure  to  enforce  the  law  under  such  conditions.  The  Bureau  must 
work  on  the  assumption  that  there  is  sufficient  accommodation  for  all 
whom  it  may  bring  to  the  schools  through  the  attendance  officers. 
Inadequacy  of  provision  may  have  another  evil  effect  in  creating  a 
desire  in  children  placed  on  half  time  to  continue  to  attend  less  than 
the  full  day  sessions,  unless  persuasion  is  applied  through  school  au- 
thorities or  attendance  officers. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  SCHOOL  CENSUS 

While  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  one  of  the  necessary  things 
in  efficiently  executing  the  law  of  compulsory  attendance  is  a  school 
census  that  gives  the  exact  number  of  children  in  a  city  or  district, 
the  best  means  of  securing  this  is  open  to  question.  The  law  of 
Pennsylvania  provides  that  a  school  census  shall  be  taken  of  all  the 
children  between  6  and  16  years,  by  the  assessors  at  the  spring  elec- 
tion, but  that  any  district  has  the  power  to  employ  the  attendance 
officers  for  this  work.  The  first  school  census  of  Philadelphia,  after 
the  passage  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law,  was  taken  in  1897 
by  the  assessors.  Their  lists  were  given  to  the  Department  of  Ed- 
ucation, but,  after  some  weeks  of  tabulating,  it  was  found  that  the 
census  did  not  give  the  information  necessary  for  successfully  exe- 
cuting the  law.*  The  following  year  this  work  was  assigned  to  the 
attendance  officers  who  have  continued  taking  the  school  census. 

Even  though  due  care  be  exercised  by  those  taking  the  census, 
its  accuracy  may  be  questioned  in  the  light  of  the  experiences  at 
other  places  where  a  system  of  checking  and  counter-checking  has 
been  employed  to  test  its  accuracy  and,  if  possible,  to  determine  the 
amount  of  variation.  In  Conshohockin  the  assessor's  lists  showed 
that  there  were  1076  children  6  to  16  years  in  1908,  who  should 
have  been  enrolled  in  the  public  schools.  The  principals  and  teach- 
ers compared  these  lists  with  the  names  on  the  enrollment,  and 
added  to  the  latter  the  names  which  the  lists  showed  that  it  should 
have,  (the  private  schools  were  omitted  in  the  checking  and  their 
pupils  deducted  from  the  school  census.)  Then  the  enrollment  was 
compared  with  the  assessor's  lists  to  find  how  many  names  of  children 


*Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Philadelphia,  1897. 

27 


6  to  1 6  years  were  not  on  the  census  lists,  as  shown  by  the  school  en- 
rollment. In  1908  this  counter-checking  showed  that  the  assessor 
had  omitted  195  names  of  children  6  to  16  years,  and  in  1907  the 
number  was  245.  The  per  cent  of  error  is  large  for  a  town  where 
the  difficulties  of  taking  the  census  should  not  be  many.  Yet,  the 
organization  of  the  bureau  or  board  which  takes  the  census  may  not 
be  as  complete  as  in  a  large  city  where  the  work  is  fully  departmental. 

New  York  has  variations  in  the  number  of  children  reported 
as  of  school  age,  that  the  Superintendent,  according  to  his  Report 
for  1907,  could  not  explain  satisfactorily.  The  number  of  children 
in  school  and  accounted  for  in  other  ways  exceeded  the  number  re- 
ported by  the  police  officers,  although  the  latter  census  was  high 
as  compared  with  the  estimated  school  population  of  the  City.  The 
census  taken  by  the  policemen  November,  1906,  showed  that  there 
were  459,050  children  between  8  and  14  years  in  New  York.  Ac- 
cording to  the  same  census  there  were  76,873  children  8  to  14  years  in 
the  private  schools,  9,799  children  working  illegally,  411  truants, 
3,050  physically  unable  to  attend  school  and  6,411  at  home  illegally. 
This  would  leave  362,506  children  8  to  14  years  as  the  public  school 
enrollment  at  the  time  of  taking  the  census.  In  June  1907  there 
were  396,201  children  between  8  and  14  years  in  the  public  schools. 
The  difference  in  time  between  taking  the  census  and  reporting  of 
the  enrollment  would  account  for  part  of  the  increase,  but  the  amount 
is  too  large  to  be  fully  explained  in  that  way. 

The  assessors'  census  for  Philadelphia  for  1905  showed  199,- 
099  children  6  to  16  years,  according  to  the  Report  of  the  Bureau 
of  Compulsory  Education  for  1905,  page  7.  The  attendance  offi- 
cers' census  for  the  same  year  showed  223,591  children  6  to  16 
years.  The  difference  between  the  two  is  10.95  Per  cent.  This  com- 
parison is  in  favor  of  the  attendance  officers'  census,  but,  if  a  com- 
parison is  made  with  Conshohockin,  the  latter  census  for  Phila- 
delphia is  lower  than  an  estimate  based  on  the  per  cent  of  difference 
found  in  the  comparisons  made  at  Conshohockin. 

From  this  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the  question  of  the  accu- 
racy of  the  school  census  is  of  more  than  local  importance.  Two 
things  are  necessary  to  prove  the  correctness  of  the  census:  first,  to 
find  how  many  names  are  on  the  school  enrollments  that  have  been 
missed  in  making  the  census  lists;  second,  to  determine  how  many 
names  are  not  on  the  school  enrollments  or  census  lists. 

28 


The  second  means  proposed  for  testing  the  accuracy  of  the  cen- 
sus is  difficult,  and  it  was  not  possible  to  use  it  in  this  investigation. 
This  could  be  done  by  University  or  College  settlements,  Church 
societies  and  philanthropic  organizations  which  care  for  children. 
It  could  be  made  for  small  areas  only,  and,  while  not  conclusive  as 
to  the  entire  number  of  children  not  enrolled  in  school  or  census, 
it  would  give  an  idea  as  to  the  approximate  number.  With  this  in- 
formation in  hand,  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  could  at- 
tempt to  enroll  those  children  in  the  schools. 

It  was  the  original  plan  of  this  investigation  to  use  the  first 
method,  suggested  above,  for  testing  the  accuracy  of  the  school  cen- 
sus. The  law  requires  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education,  or 
whatever  bureau  or  board  that  enforces  the  attendance  law,  to  pre- 
pare lists  which  show  how  many  children  between  8  and  16  years 
should  be  enrolled  in  each  school  district,  with  the  names  of  all  the 
children.  These  lists  are  to  be  sent  to  the  principals,  early  in  Sep- 
tember, who  compare  these  with  their  enrollments  and  add  to  the 
latter  the  names  of  such  children  as  are  on  the  census  lists  and  not 
enrolled.  The  names  which  are  added  are  given  to  the  attendance 
officers  who  try  to  place  the  children  in  school  or  find  why  they 
should  be  excused  from  attendance.  To  make  the  comparisons  pro- 
posed it  was  necessary  to  have  access  to  these  lists  and  the  enroll- 
ments. It  was  hoped  that  these  lists  would  be  accessable,  either 
through  the  courtesy  of  the  principals  or  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory 
Education,  in  order  to  make  comparisons  for  several  schools.  In 
this  way  an  estimate  could  have  been  made  of  the  number  missed  in 
taking  the  census.  It  was  impossible  to  carry  out  this  part  of  the 
investigation  from  the  fact  that  no  lists  were  sent  out  by  the  Bureau 
of  Compulsory  Education  in  1908,  as  required  by  law. 

Notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Compul- 
sory Education  for  1908,  page  12,  shows  that  the  number  of  non- 
attendants  in  September,  1908,  was  2,554.  I*  states  that  these  cases 
were  investigated  and  disposed  of  satisfactorily,  according  to  the  dis- 
position of  the  cases  there  enumerated.  The  number  2,554  represents 
the  difference  between  the  whole  number  of  children  8  to  16  years, 
as  shown  by  the  attendance  officers'  census  and  the  number  enrolled 
in  the  schools,  plus  those  found  to  be  employed,  as  reported  by  the 
attendance  officers.  This  method  of  determining  the  number  of 
children  8  to  16  years  not  in  school  is  considered  satisfactory  by  the 

29 


Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education.  It  can  readily  be  seen  that  the 
law  may  easily  be  evaded  by  giving  a  false  statement  as  to  enroll- 
ment. If  an  incorrect  report  is  given,  there  is  no  means  of  checking 
this  and  presenting  the  names  of  children,  falsely  reported,  to  the 
attendance  officers  for  investigation.  The  present  method  of  com- 
parison to  find  out  how  many  children  are  not  in  school  is  only  a 
make-shift,  at  the  best,  and  an  expenditure  of  money  for  increasing 
the  efficiency  of  the  schools  and  executing  the  laws  of  the  State,  that 
brings  no  return  to  the  taxpayers.  A  set  of  enrollment  cards,  how- 
ever, is  made  from  the  census,  which  are  supposed  to  contain  the 
names  of  all  the  children  6  to  16  years,  in  Philadelphia.  The  value 
of  these  cards  in  the  office  of  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education 
and  in  the  hands  of  the  attendance  officers  can  rightly  be  questioned. 
Their  value  for  information  may  be  granted,  but  they  cannot  be 
useful  in  placing  all  the  children  of  school  age  in  the  schools  of 
their  respective  districts.  Comparisons  must  be  made  between  lists 
of  children  obtained  from  different  sources,  so  that  one  can  be  used 
as  a  check  upon  the  other.  This  is  possible  only  by  comparing  cen- 
sus lists  and  school  enrollments. 

In  view  of  the  difficulties  encountered,  as  mentioned  above, 
the  only  possible  means  of  comparison  was  between  the  national 
census  for  1900  and  the  school  census  for  the  same  year.  But  there 
was  no  record  of  a  school  census  of  Philadelphia  taken  by  the  attend- 
ance officers  in  1900.  The  wording  of  the  Superintendent's  Report 
for  1901,  page  80,  seems  to  be  conclusive  evidence  that  none  was 
taken  that  year.  He  mentions  three  censuses  and  compares  them, 
heading  the  columns  with  the  years  1898,  1899  and  1901.  No 
statement  as  to  the  reason  for  the  failure  to  take  a  school  census  in 
1900  could  be  found  in  any  of  the  reports.  Some  reasons  were  sug- 
gested verbally  but  with  no  certainty  that  could  be  accepted  and  stat- 
ed in  this  thesis. 

Another  difficulty  encountered  in  comparing  the  national  and 
school  censuses  of  Philadelphia  was  caused  by  the  fact  that  the 
age  periods  were  not  reported  in  the  same  way.  The  national 
census  used  five  year  periods,  as  5  to  9  years  inclusive,  10  to  14  years 
inclusive,  although  single  year  periods  were  given  for  the  Unit- 
ed States  and  the  states.  The  school  census  gave  the  number  of 
children  between  6  and  21  years,  6  and  8  years,  8  and  16  years  and 
1 6  and  21  years.  In  order  to  avoid  errors  in  comparison,  as  far  as 

30 


TABLE   VI. PER   CENT   OF   CHILDREN    BELONGING   TO    EACH   YEAR    OF 

THE  FIVE  YEAR  PERIODS. 


United  States 


Pennsylvania 


Year 

1900 

1890 

1880 

Average 

1900 

1890 

1880 

Average 

5 
6 
7 
8 
9 

20.4 
20.6 
20.1 
20.1 

18.8 

20.4 
21.3 
20.0 
20.1 
18.2 

20.9 
21.2 
19.8 
20.0 
18.1 

20.5% 
21.0^ 
19.9% 

20.0% 
18.3% 

20.3 
20.7 
20.0 
20.0 
19.0 

20.6 
21.2 
20.1 
19.5 
18.6 

20.5 
21.2 
20.0 
19.6 
18.7 

20.4% 

&.OM 

20.0>i 
19.7 

18.7% 

10 
11 
12 
13 
14 

21.5 
19.6 
20.3 
19.2 
19.4 

21.4 
18.1 
21.4 
18.9 
20.2 

22.4 
18.5 
21.6 

18.8 
18.7 

21.7% 

18.7H 

21.1 

18.9% 
19.4^ 

21.1 
19.9 
19.8 
19.5 
19.7 

21.0 

18.7 
20.8 
19.1 
20.4 

21.7 
18.8 
21.1 
19.3 
19.1 

21.2% 
19.1^ 
20.5% 
19.3 
19.7% 

15 
16 
17 

18 
19 

20.3 
20.6 
19.7 
20.3 
19.1 

19.7 
21.2 
19.1 
21.4 
18.6 

18.7 
19.7 
18.9 
22.6 
20.1 

19.5% 
20.5 
19.2% 
21.4% 
19.2% 

20.0 
20.5 
19.7 
20.2 
19.6 

19.2 
21.1 
19.7 
20.8 
19.2 

19.1 
19.7 
19.6 
21.4 
20.2 

19.4% 

20.4^, 
19.6% 
20.8 
19.6% 

20 

20.8 

20.7 

21.9 

21.1% 

20.1 

20.2 

21.4 

20.5% 

possible,  Table  VI  has  been  formed.  This  table  shows  what  per 
cent  of  the  children  in  a  five  year  period  belong  to  each  year.  The  per 
cents  have  been  worked  out  both  for  the  United  States  and  for  Penn- 
sylvania and  have  been  computed  for  the  last  three  census  years.  This 
plan  seemed  preferable  to  taking  one-fifth  of  those  in  any  five  year 
period  as  representative  of  the  number  that  belonged  to  a  certain 
year  of  that  period.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  table  that  the  amount 
of  difference  between  the  years  of  each  period  is  very  small,  both  for 
the  United  States  and  for  Pennsylvania.  Yet,  for  the  sake  of  accuracy, 
this  should  be  considered.  For  Philadelphia  and  the  cities  of  Penn- 
sylvania the  per  cents  of  Pennsylvania  given  under  1900  will  be 
used  in  determining  the  number  of  children  of  the  ages  to  be  used  in 
the  comparisons.  In  all  other  comparisons  the  same  year  for  the 
United  States  will  furnish  the  per  cents. 

Since  there  is  no  school  census  reported  for  Philadelphia  for 
1900,  a  mean  between  the  1899  and  1901  school  censuses  has  been 
taken  to  represent  the  census  for  1900.  Comparisons  have  been  made 
between  this  mean  and  the  national  census  for  1900,  for  the  age  pe- 
riods given  in  Table  VII.  This  table  shows  that  the  difference  be- 
tween the  national  census  and  the  school  census  (mean  between  the 
1899  and  1901  school  censuses  taken  by  the  attendance  officers)  in- 
creases as  it  reaches  the  age  period  where  childrn  leave  school  to  go 


31 


TABLE  VII. COMPARISONS   OF  SCHOOL  AND  NATIONAL  CENSUSES   OF 

PHILADELPHIA   FOR    IQOO. 


Age  Period 

School  census  (mean 
between  1899  and  1901 
school  censuses) 

Number  bas- 
ed on  nation- 
al census. 

Amount    the   school 
census  is  below  the 
national  census. 

Amount  of 
variat  i  o  n 
by  years. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

6  to    8  years 
6  to  16     " 
8  to  16     " 
16  to  21     " 
6  to  21     " 

47,373 
205,081 
157,708 
68,334 
273,415 

51,041 

231,791 
180,750 
114,264 
346,055 

3,668 
26,710 
23,042 
45,930 
72,640 

7.19 
11.52 

12.75 
40.20 
20.99 

1,834 

2,671 

2,880 
9,186 
4,843 

to  work.  The  difference  is  especially  large  in  the  1 6  to  21  years'  pe- 
riod. In  computing  the  per  cent  of  difference  in  column  5,  the  num- 
bers in  column  3  have  been  used  as  the  bases. 

Table  VIII  has  been  constructed  to  show  what  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  Philadelphia  was  of  the  different  age 
periods  given  in  the  table,  for  1900.  The  per  cents  for  Philadelphia 
have  been  determined  from  the  mean  of  the  1*899  and  1901  school 
censuses,  taken  by  the  attendance  officers,  and  from  the  national  cen- 
sus. The  total  population,  upon  which  these  per  cents  have  been 

TABLE  VIII. PER  CENT  OF  THE  POPULATION  OF  DIFFERENT  AGE 

PERIODS  IN    I9OO. 


Age  Peroid 

Philadelphia 

Pennsylvania 

United  States 

School  census 

National  census 

6  to    8  years 
6  to  16      " 
8  to  16      " 
16  to  21       " 
6  to  21       " 

3.66 
15.85 
12.19 
5.28 
21.13 

3.95 
17.92 
13.97 
8.83 
26.75 

4.44 
20.49 
16.05 
9.53 
30.02 

4.78 
22.06 
17.28 
10.02 

32.08 

based,  is  from  the  national  census  for  1900.  To  these  statistics  have 
been  added  the  per  cents  for  Pennsylvania  and  the  United  States,  for 
the  same  age  periods.  In  this  table  the  per  cents  of  the  school  census 
are  below  the  per  cents  determined  from  the  national  census,  for 
Philadelphia.  The  amount  of  difference  increases  to  the  age  for  go- 
ing to  work.  The  table  shows  that  a  comparison  between  a  city  and 
state,  or  the  United  States,  can  not  be  made  with  any  due  degree  of 
accuracy. 

In  order  to  compare  Philadelphia  with  other  cities,  Table 
IX  has  been  computed.  Instead  of  the  age  periods  used  in  Table 
VIII,  five  year  periods  have  ben  used.  Nine  cities  have  been 
chosen.  The  per  cent  of  children  of  the  different  five  year  periods, 


32 


TABLE  IX. COMPARISONS  OF  THE  PER  CENT  OF  THE  POPULATION  OF 

DIFFERENT  AGE  PERIODS  IN    IQOO. 


CITY  OR  STATE 

5  to  9 
years 

10  to  14 

years 

15  to  19 
years 

20  to  24 
years 

5  to  19 

years 

New  York 

10.32 

8.76 

8.81 

10.32 

27.89 

Boston     
Buffalo    

8.72 
11.34 

7.55 
10.17 

7.53 
9.15 

10.39 
9.28 

23.80 
30.66 

Chester   

10.33 

9.26 

9.37 

10.72 

28.96 

Cincinnati 

9.87 

9.39 

9.59 

10.38 

28.85 

Cleveland 

10.96 

9.47 

9.54 

10.38 

29.97 

Fort  \Vayne 

10.28 

9.84 

9.99 

10.01 

30.11 

Harrisburg 

9.49 

9.33 

9.49 

10.49 

28.31 

Philadelphia              .    .    . 

9.69 

8.49 

8.49 

10.17 

26.67 

Average             

10.11 

9.14 

9.11 

10.24 

28.36 

Massachusetts    '..... 

9.13 

8.17 

8.48 

9.96 

25.78 

New  York  

9.82 

8.84 

8.81 

9.67 

27.47 

Ohio     

10.48 

9.98 

9.81 

9.46 

30.27 

Pennsylvania     

10.89 

9.90 

9.51 

9.59 

30.  bO 

Average  

10.08 

9.22 

9.15 

9.67 

28.45 

United  States     

11.70 

10.70 

9.90 

9.70 

32.30 

from  5  to  24  years  inclusive,  have  been  determined  from  the  national 
census  for  these  cities.  To  these  statistics  have  been  added  those  for 
four  states  and  the  United  States. 

As  the  5  to  19  years'  inclusive  period  covers  the  years  for  which 
the  school  censuses  are  generally  taken,  the  variations  between  the 
cities  for  this  period  will  be  noted.  Boston  has  the  lowest  and 
Buffalo,  the  highest  per  cent  of  the  population  5  to  19  years  inclusive. 
The  amount  of  difference  between  these  two  cities  is  not  quite  7  per 
cent.  Philadelphia  has  second  place  in  the  5  to  19  years'  inclusive 
column,  in  smallness  of  per  cent.  It  is  also  almost  two  per  cent  be- 
low the  average  for  the  nine  cities.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  the 
per  cent  is  much  too  high  when  a  comparison  is  made  with  the 
school  census  taken  by  the  attendance  officers.  Table  VIII  showed 
that  21.13  per  cent  of  the  population  of  Philadelphia  in  1900  was  be- 
tween 6  and  21  years,  according  to  the  mean  between  the  school  cen- 
suses for  1899  and  1901.  Table  IX  shows  that  26.67  per  cent  of  the 
population  was  between  5  and  19  years  inclusive  in  1900,  according 
to  the  national  census.  If  the  year  20  in  the  6  to  21  years'  period 
were  exchanged  for  the  year  5  in  the  5  to  19  years'  inclusive  period, 
the  former  per  cent  would  be  only  a  fraction  higher, — 26.75  per  cent. 
The  21.13  per  cent,  however,  is  lower  than  any  per  cent  given  in 
the  5  to  19  years'  inclusive  period.  Even  Boston,  where  the  difference 
between  the  school  and  national  censuses  was  very  small  for  1900, 


33 


as  will  be  shown  below,  has  a  higher  per  cent  than  the  21.13  per  cent 
of  the  school  census  of  Philadelphia. 

The  proportion  of  the  population  5  to  19  years  inclusive  is,  as 
a  rule,  higher  for  the  states  than  the  cities  given  in  the  above  table. 
There  is  variation  between  the  states  as  is  the  case  with  the  cities.  The 
United  States  shows  a  higher  per  cent  for  the  5  to  19  years'  inclusive 
period  than  any  of  the  cities  or  states  of  Table  IX. 

In  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  the  Superintendent  of  schools  has 
made  comparisons  between  the  school  census  of  that  City  and  the 
national  census.*  He  has  accepted  25  per  cent  as  the  minimum  and 
30  per  cent  as  the  maximum  limits  of  the  population  between  6  and 
21  years.  If  the  school  census  shows  a  smaller  number  than  25  per 
cent  of  the  population  of  the  city,  according  to  the  national  census, 
or  a  number  larger  than  30  per  cent,  the  accuracy  of  the  school  census 
is  open  to  question.  Possibly  these  limits  do  not  permit  of  enough 
variation  to  be  applied  to  any  city.  Maximum  and  minimum  limits 
would  have  to  be  determined  for  each  state  and  city,  as  can  readily 
be  seen  by  a  reference  to  Table  IX.  Immigration  and  the  size 
of  the  city  would  have  to  be  considered.  To  include  all  the  cities  of 
Table  IX,  the  minimum  and  maximum  limits  would  have  to  be  23 
and  33  per  cent  respectively.  For  Pennsylvania  the  minimum  and 
maximum  limits  of  the  per  cent  of  the  population  between  5  and  19 
years  inclusive  or  6  and  21  years  might  be  placed  at  25  and  31  per 
cent  respectively.  For  Philadelphia  the  limits  suggested  for  Fort 
Wayne, — 25  and  30  per  cent, — appear  to  be  satisfactory.  This  mini- 
mum limit  of  25  per  cent,  however,  is  too  high  for  the  school  census 
of  21.13  per  cent  given  in  Table  VIII. 

The  above  comparisons  between  school  and  national  censuses  have 
been  made  on  the  assumption  that  the  national  census  is  correct.  The 
charge  of  incorrectness  may  be  made  against  the  national  census, 
since  there  are  difficulties  to  overcome  in  taking  the  national  as  well 
as  the  school  censuses.  But,  since  the  national  census  makes  an  enum- 
eration of  all  the  people  and  the  school  census  records  only  those  6  to 
1 6  years  in  Pennsylvania (  formerly  6  to  21  years),  accuracy  ought  to 
be  in  favor  of  the  former.  There  would  be  less  reason  for  eluding 
or  giving  a  false  or  inaccurate  statement  to  the  national  census  officers, 


*Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools   of   Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  1907,  pages  17-18. 

34 


since  attendance  or  non-attendance  at  school  would  not  be  affected 
by  any  report  or  information  given. 

In  order  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  national  census,  a  comparison 
has  been  made  between  the  number  of  children  of  a  certain  age  report- 
ed in  school  in  Philadelphia,  for  1900,  by  the  national  census,  and  the 
number  reported  in  school  for  the  same  age  and  period  by  the  school 
reports  of  the  City.  The  national  census  for  1900  reported  165,818 
children  5  to  14  years  inclusive  enrolled  in  the  schools  of  Philadelphia. 
This  number  included  those  enrolled  in  the  private  as  well  as  in  the 
public  schools.  It  has  not  been  possible  to  determine  what  per  cent 
of  the  children  were  enrolled  in  the  public  schools.  According  to 
the  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  for  1905,  page 
9>  75-27  per  cent  of  the  children  6  to  16  years  enrolled  were  in  the 
public  schools.  According  to  the  Report  of  the  same  Bureau  for  1908, 
page  14,  73.74  per  cent  of  the  children  6  to  16  years  enrolled  were 
in  the  public  schools.  Assuming  the  accuracy  of  these  figures  and 
that  the  variation  for  the  period  1900  to  1905  was  very  small,  75 
per  cent  can  be  accepted  as  a  generous  basis  for  the  per  cent  of  child- 
ren 6  to  1 6  years  enrolled  in  the  public  schools  in  1900,  out  of  the 
total  number  6  to  16  years  enrolled  in  all  the  schools.  This  is 
slightly  lower  than  the  per  cent  for  1905,  although  a  higher  per 
cent  would  favor  the  comparison.  The  next  difficulty  encountered  in 
this  comparison  was  to  determine  how  many  children  enrolled  in  the 
public  schools  were  between  5  and  14  years  inclusive.  This  informa- 
tion could  be  obtained  for  June  3Oth,  1908,*  when  87.62  per  cent 
of  the  children  in  the  public  schools  were  between  5  and  14  years 
inclusive.  If  75  per  cent  of  the  number  reported  by  the  national 
census  were  in  the  public  schools,  there  were  124,364  children  5  to 
14  years  inclusive  in  the  public  schools  when  the  census  was  taken. 
Assuming  that  87.62  per  cent  of  the  children  in  the  public  schools 
on  June  3Oth,  1900,  were  5  to  14  years  inclusive,  as  was  the  case 
on  June  3Oth,  1908,  and  that  124,364  represented  this  per  cent,  the 
whole  number  in  the  public  schools  on  June  3Oth,  1900,  should  have 
been  141,935.  The  enrollment  for  June  3Oth  is  the  lowest  of  any 
month  of  the  year.  It  was  e'qual  to  94.95  per  cent  of  the  average 
enrollment  for  the  year  1908.  Assuming  that  the  difference  between 
the  June  3Oth  and  average  enrollment  has  been  very  small,  the  94.95 


*Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  of  Philadelphia,  1908 

35 


per  cent  has  been  accepted  for  1900.  If  141,935  represented  the 
enrollment  on  June  3Oth,  1900,  and  this  was  94.95  per  cent  of  the 
average  enrollment,  the  average  number  of  children  enrolled  in  1900 
was  149,468.  The  School  Report  for  Philadelphia  for  1900  gave 
an  average  enrollment  of  147,314.  The  amount  of  difference  be- 
tween the  average  enrollment  determined  from  the  national  census  by 
the  aid  of  the  per  cents  based  on  the  school  reports  and  the  average 
enrollment  reported  by  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  1900  is 
2,154,  or  1.4  per  cent  based  on  the  estimated  average  enrollment. 

The  per  cent  of  difference  between  the  national  census  and  the 
school  reports,  when  enrollments  are  compared,  is  very  much 
smaller  than  the  difference  between  the  national  and  school  censuses. 
In  the  case  of  the  enrollment  comparisons,  the  difference  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  a  difference  in  the  time  of  reporting  the  enrollments 
compared,  since  one  month  would  give  a  difference,  in  the  case  of 
some  months,  of  more  than  the  per  cent  of  difference  given  above, 
that  is,  the  1.4  per  cent.  If  the  same  per  cents  were  used  to  compute 
the  1908  average  enrollment  from  the  national  census,  the  resulting 
number  would  be  below  the  average  enrollment  given  in  the  School 
Report  of  Philadelphia  for  1908.  Since  the  national  census  would 
have  had  to  be  estimated  for  that  year,  the  comparison  has  not  been 
recorded  in  this  investigation.  The  above  comparisons  favor  the  as- 
sumption that  the  national  census  is  correct.  The  enrollment  must  be 
accepted  as  a  safe  basis  by  which  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  national 
census.  The  national  census,  therefore,  can  be  accepted  as  correct  in 
the  comparisons  already  made  between  the  national  and  school  cen- 
suses of  Philadelphia  and  similar  comparisons  that  are  now  to  be 
made  for  other  cities. 

In  Table  X  comparisons  have  been  made  between  the 
school  and  the  national  censuses  for  1900  for  thirteen  cities  of  the 
United  States.  The  fourth  column  shows  how  many  children  were 
of  a  certain  age,  for  the  respective  cities,  determined  from  the  na- 
tional census  for  1900.  Since  the  national  census  gives  five  year 
periods  only,  in  the  case  of  cities,  to  show  what  part  of  the  whole 
population  is  of  a  certain  age,  the  per  cents  in  Table  VI  have  been 
used  in  computing  part  periods.  Chicago  may  be  taken  to  illustrate 
the  method  employed.  The  school  census  of  Chicago  reported  the  num- 
ber of  children  6  to  21  years.  Therefore,  the  number  for  the  two 
periods  of  the  national  census,  9  to  19  years  inclusive,  can  be  accept- 

36 


TABLE   X. COMPARISONS   OF   SCHOOL  AND   NATIONAL   CENSUSES    FOR 

I9OO. 


City 

Age 
Period 

School 
census 

Number 
based  on 
national 
census 

School  census 
above    national 
census. 

National  cen- 
sus    above 
school  census. 

Number 

percent 

number 

percent 

Boston    .    .    . 

5-15  years 

90,144 

91,258 

1,114 

1.22 

Chicago     .    . 

6-21 

626,516 

490,913 

135,603 

27.62 

Cincinnati     . 

6-21 

108,391 

94,490 

13,901 

14.71 

Cleveland 

6-21 

109,047 

114,122 

5,075 

4.45 

Detroit    .    .    . 

5-20 

81,681 

86,188 

4,507 

5.23 

Fort  Wayne  . 

6-21 

14,036 

13,576 

460 

3.39 

Indianapolis  . 

6-21 

40,073 

45,778 

5,705 

12.46 

Philadelphia 

6-21 

273,415 

346,055 

72,640 

20.99 

Allentown     . 

6-21 

8,974 

10,282 

1,488 

14.47 

Chester  .   .   . 

6-21 

6,886 

10,858 

3,972 

36.58 

Erie     .... 

6-21 

16,195 

15,439 

756 

4.90 

Harrisburg     . 

6-21 

11,296 

14,288 

2,992 

20.94 

Lancaster  .    . 

6-21 

9,999 

12,175 

2,176 

17.87 

ted  without  modification.  To  this  number  was  added  the  number  of 
children  6  to  9  years  by  taking  20.4  per  cent  from  the  5  to  9  years' 
inclusive  period,  according  to  Table  VI,  column  2,  under  the  United 
States.  Ln  the  same  way  the  number  20  years  old  can  be  deter- 
mined from  the  national  census.  The  sum  of  those  6  to  9  years  in- 
clusive, 10  to  14  years  inclusive,  15  to  19  years  inclusive,  and  2O 
years,  was  the  number  of  children  in  Chicago  6  to  21  years,  in  1900, 
according  to  the  national  census.  The  school  censuses  given  in  col- 
umn 3  have  been  taken  from  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Education  for  1900. 

The  amount  and  per  cent  of  difference  between  the  school  and 
national  censuses  have  been  shown  in  the  table.  In  the  cities  not  in 
Pennsylvania,  this  is  greatest  in  Chicago,  where  the  school  census  was 
27.62  per  cent  higher  than  the  number  based  on  the  national  cen- 
sus. According  to  the  school  census  of  Chicago,  36.88  per  cent  of  the 
population  was  6  to  20  years  inclusive.  This  per  cent  is  above  any  of 
the  per  cents  in  the  5  to  19  years'  inclusive  column  of  Table  IX. 
Especial  attention  should  be  called  to  Boston  and  Detroit  where  the 
school  and  national  censuses  could  be  compared  without  any  esti- 
mates. The  per  cent  of  difference  between  the  two  censuses  is  very 
small,  especially  in  the  case  of  Boston.  The  difference  in  the  time 
of  taking  the  two  censuses  could  account  for  the  difference  in  Boston. 
Philadelphia  shows  a  school  census  lower  than  the  number  based  on 

37 


the  national  census.  This  appears  to  be  another  point  in  favor  of  the 
argument  that  the  school  census  of  Philadelphia,  taken  by  the  attend- 
ance officers,  has  been  too  low,  and  a  table  below  will  show  that  it 
is  still  too  low.  A  comparison  between  the  six  cities  in  Pennsylvania 
shows  that  the  conditions  are  not  very  promising  in  the  State.  The 
36.58  per  cent  for  Chester  is  considered  correct  in  the  light  of  a 
special  census  that  added  the  names  of  almost  2,000  children  to  the 
number  enrolled  by  the  ward  assessors. 

TABLE    XI. COMPARISONS    OF    ESTIMATED    AND    NATIONAL    CENSUSES. 


CITY  OR 
STATE 

1900 

1890 

National 
census 

Estimated 
census 

Estimates  too 
low 

National 
census 

Estimated 
census 

Estimates  too 
low 

Amount 

Per 
Cent 

Amount 

Per 
Cent 

Boston 
Buffalo 
Cincinnati 
Cleveland 
Washington 
Philadelphia 
Chicago 

560,892 
352,387 
325,902 
381,768 
278,718 
1,293,697 
1,698,575 

534,115 
356,194 
338,677 
362,560 
283,160 
1,246,758 
1,696,515 

26,777 
3,807* 
12,775* 
19,208 
4,442* 
46,939 
2,060 

4.8 
1.1* 
3.9* 
5.0 
1.6* 
3.6 
0.1 

448,477 
255,664 
296,908 
261,353 
230,392 
1,046,964 

475,152 
192,554 
294,039 
227,463 
246,049 
1,020,318 

26,675* 
63,100 
2,869 
33,890 
15,657* 
26,646 

6.0* 

24.7 
1.0 

13.0 
6.8* 
2.5 

Massachusetts 
New  York 
Ohio 
Pennsylvania 

2,805,346 
7,268,894 
4,157,545 
6,302,115 

2,694,801 
6,912,835 
4,146,570 
6,233,137 

110,545 
356,059 
10,975 
68,978 

3.9 
4.9 
0.3 
1.1 

2,238,943 
5,997,853 
3,672,316 
5,258,014 

2,108,819 
5,782,983 
3,730,864 
5,043,831 

130,124 
214,870 

58,548* 
214,183 

5.8 
3.6 
1.6* 
4.1 
1.4 

United  States 

75,693,734 

75,088,717 

605,017 

0.8 

62,622,250 

61,753,195 

869,055 

*Estimates  too  high 

In  order  to  compare  the  school  censuses  of  Philadel- 
phia, for  the  years  1901  to  1908,  with  the  national  census,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  accept  or  make  estimates  for  these  years,  based  on 
the  national  census  for  1900.  In  order  to  prove  the  correctness  of 
these  estimates,  the  censuses  of  seven  cities,  four  states  and  the  United 
States  have  been  estimated  for  1890  and  1900.  To  estimate  the 
population  of  a  city  or  state  for  1900,  the  difference  between  the  cen- 
suses of  said  city  or  state  for  1890  and  1880  was  added  to  the  1890 
census.  This  number  has  been  recorded  in  Table  XI  in  the  column 
headed  "estimated  census."  In  another  column  of  the  table  the 
national  census  for  1900  has  been  given  for  the  same  city  or  state. 
In  the  same  way  estimates  were  made  for  1890.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  national  and  estimatd  censuses  has  been  shown  in  the  table. 
The  cities  have  been  chosen  largely  on  the  basis  of  their  size.  Older 
cities  have  been  chosen  because  they  generally  show  less  fluctation  in 


38 


the  per  cent  of  increase  in  population.     This  was  considered  legiti- 
mate from  the  fact  that  Philadelphia  is  in  this  class. 

Table  XI  shows  clearly  that  the  difference  between  the  na- 
tional and  estimated  censuses  is  small  in  the  case  of  most  of  the 
cities  and  states.  The  estimate  is  more  often  too  low  than  too  high. 
In  Philadelphia  and  in  Pennsylvania  the  estimates  are  lower  than  the 
actual  censuses  for  both  years  compared.  Since  the  per  cent  of  differ- 
ence is  not  great  for  either  and  nearly  the  same  for  the  two  years 
compared,  the  estimates  below  for  the  years  1901  to  1908  must  be 
considered  almost  correct.  If  there  is  any  variation  from  the  actual 
numbers,  which  the  census  for  1910  will  show,  the  comparisons  just 
made  would  favor  the  assumption  that  the  estimates  are  too  low. 
If  the  estimates  are  too  low,  the  comparisons  between  the  school  and 
estimated  censuses  will  be  more  favorable  to  the  former  in  Table 
XII. 


TABLE  XII. 


:OMPARISONS  OF  THE  SCHOOL  AND  ESTIMATED  NATIONAL 
CENSUSES  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


Year 

School  census 

Estimated  from 
national   census 

Per  cent  for 
estimate 

Difference 

Amount 

Per  cent 

1901 

208,570 

235,988 

17.90 

27,418 

11.6 

1902 

204,423 

240,270 

17.89 

35,847 

14.9 

1903 

212,308 

244,547 

17.88 

32,239 

13.2 

1904 

217,935 

248,820 

17.87 

30,885 

12.4 

1905 

223,591 

253,087 

17.86 

29,496 

11.7 

1906 

227,370 

257,350 

17.85 

29,980 

11.6 

1907 

233,084 

261,608 

17.84 

28,524 

10.9 

1908 

236,838 

265,860 

17.83 

29,022 

10.9 

In  Table  XII  the  school  census  has  been  compared  with 
the  estimated  national  census  for  Philadelphia,  for  the  age 
period  6  to  16  years,  for  the  years  1901  to  1908.  In  estimating  the 
relative  number  of  children  6  to  16  years,  due  allowance  has  been 
made  for  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  children,  which  was  found  to 
be  o.i  per  cent  for  the  period  from  1890  to  1900.  This  makes  a  de- 
crease of  o.oi  per  cent  a  year.  Column  4  of  Table  XII  shows  this 
decrease  in  the  per  cents.  This  per  cent  of  decrease  is  very  small 
and  changes  the  estimates  very  little.  It  has  been  taken  into  ac- 
count, however,  in  order  to  make  the  comparisons  as  exact  as  possible 
and  just  for  the  school  census. 

The  school  census  for  1902  is  less  than  that  for  1901,  which  is 
explained  in  the  reports  as  due  to  a  difference  in  the  time  of  the 
year  when  the  census  was  taken.  This  made  it  more  difficult  to  en- 

39 


roll  the  full  number  in  1902.  Possibly  similar  difficulties  are  encoun- 
tered at  other  times,  which  may,  in  part,  account  for  the  difference 
between  the  school  and  estimated  censuses  of  Table  XII.  The  in- 
crease in  the  school  census  since  1903  has  been  almost  in  proportion 
to  the  estimated  increase  in  the  population  of  the  City.  But,  if  the 
estimated  census  is  found  to  be  too  low,  when  a  comparison  can  be 
made  with  the  next  national  census,  the  school  census  will  be  proved 
to  be  less  accurate  for  each  year  that  it  is  taken,  unless  the  yearly  gain 
is  greatly  increased.  In  Table  XII  the  per  cents  of  difference  are 
based  on  the  estimated  and  not  the  school  census.  These  per  cents  do 
not  vary  much  during  the  years  compared,  excluding  1902. 

TABLE    XIII. COMPARISONS    OF    SCHOOL    AND    ESTIMATED    NATIONAL 

CENSUSES. 


City 

Year 

Age  Period 

School 
census 

Estimated  from 
national  census 

Amount  school  census 
is  below  national  cen- 
sus. 

Number 

Per  cent 

Buffalo  .... 
Boston  .... 
Cleveland  .  . 
Harrisburg  .  . 

1906 
1907 
1907 
1907 

5-18  years 
5-15     " 
6-21     " 
6-21     " 

84,530 
104,150 
125,368 
8,595 

108,556 
104,443 
135,941 
10,450 

24,026 
293 
10,573 

1,855 

22.1 
0.3 

7.8 
17.8 

In  Table  XIII  comparisons  have  been  made  between  the  school 
and  estimated  censuses  for  four  cities,  for  the  years  given  in  the  second 
column  of  the  table.  The  school  census  was  obtained  from  the 
published  reports  of  the  respective  cities,  for  the  years  compared.  The 
comparison  for  Boston  is  of  interest.  The  difference  between  the 
school  and  estimated  census  is  only  0.3  per  cent.  However,  if  the  esti- 
mated census  is  based  on  the  state  census  of  1905,  the  difference 
between  the  school  and  estimated  census  is  4.9  per  cent.  In  the  case 
of  Buffalo  the  estimate  based  on  the  state  census  for  1905  is  lower 
than  the  estimate  based  on  the  national  census. 

Table  XIII  only  emphasizes  the  fact  that  there  is  difficulty  jn 
obtaining  an  accurate  school  census.  The  problem  concerns  many  ci- 
ties. The  comparisons  in  this  chapter  between  school  and  national 
censuses,  for  the  same  age  periods,  have  been  made  to  show  the 
approximate  amount  of  difference  between  the  two  censuses.  Every 
means  has  been  employed  to  make  fair  and  accurate  comparisons.  All 
influences  that  might  modify  the  results,  however  small,  have  been 
taken  into  account.  The  above  comparisons  seem  to  give  rather  con- 
clusive evidence  that  the  school  census  for  Philadelphia  is  too  low. 


40 


The  great  variation  in  Table  VII  can  be  explained  in  no  other  way 
than  from  the  fact  that,  as  the  children  approach  the  age  to  go  to 
work,  there  is  a  tendency  to  give  false  reports  to  the  attendance 
officers  when  taking  the  census,  escape  enrollment  in  the  census  or 
the  proper  effort  is  not  made  to  make  a  complete  census.  While 
Table  XII  may  not  give  the  exact  amount  that  the  school  census 
lacks  of  the  whole  number,  it  can  be  taken  as  approximately  correct. 
It  does  show,  however,  the  need  of  a  better  organized  and  more 
efficient  system  for  taking  the  school  census. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ATTENDANCE   RECORDS. — INVESTIGATION   OF   THE   ENFORCEMENT 

OF  THE  COMPULSORY  ATTENDANCE  LAW  IN  THE  SCHOOLS 

OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

An  investigation  was  made  of  the  cards  used  to  report  absentees 
to  the  attendance  officers,  to  ascertain  the  number  of  times  each  one 
was  reported,  the  period  of  each  report  and  the  character  of  the  rea- 
sons recorded  by  the  attendance  officers  for  the  absences.  All  the 
attendance  cards  of  several  schools  were  examined.  These  schools 
were  considered  representative  of  the  conditions  existing  in  Philadel- 
phia, so  that  the  results  of  this  investigation  show  how  accurately 
these  records  are  kept  in  the  schools  and  how  the  compulsory  attend- 
ance law  is  respected  by  the  teachers  in  reporting  absentees.  The 
work  was  frought  with  difficulties  because  of  the  negligent  manner 
often  employed  in  recording  the  data  found  on  the  cards.  Doubtless 
the  data  were  intelligible  to  those  who  made  the  entries,  yet  the  cards 
were  not  open  to  easy  and  definite  investigation.  By  a  process  of  com- 
parisons of  the  various  facts  recorded  on  the  cards,  the  statistics  ob- 
tained and  shown  in  the  following  tables,  are  accurate.  The  special 
difficulties  of  this  investigation  will  be  noted  under  the  tables  below, 
which  give  the  statistics  for  which  the  data  were  not  easily  obtainable. 
This  investigation  was  made  in  February,  1909,  immediately  after  the 
semi-annual  promotions.  The  statistics  cover  a  period  of  one  year, 
from  February  1st,  1908  to  February  ist,  1909. 

In  Table  XIV  is  given  the  total  enrollment  of  all  the  schools 
investigated.  For  the  purpose  of  further  comparisons,  the  statistics 
for  the  boys  and  the  girls  are  given  separately. 

41 


TABLE  XIV. — TOTAL  ENROLLMENT  OF  SCHOOLS  INVESTIGATED,    BY   SEX, 
GRADE  AND   AGE. 


BOYS 

GIRLS 

AGE 

1 

TJ 

^ 

x 

x 

P 

£ 

3 

•£ 

1 

| 

"u 

- 

£ 

f 

3 

11 

1 

J3 
P 

I 

•= 

i 

1 

- 

£ 

& 

j.  - 

0 

fa 

11 

1 

i 

£ 

5 

3 

3 

9 

h  2 

11 

6 

50 

2 

52 

47 

23 

70 

7 

36 

31 

3 

71 

39 

35 

2 

76 

8 

19 

34 

26 

1 

1 

81 

24 

36 

41 

2 

103 

9 

1 

22 

53 

33 

1 

110 

2 

15 

67 

26 

2 

11?, 

10 

6 

31 

45 

32 

7 

121 

2 

6 

42 

38 

32 

4 

11 

5 

28 

34 

38 

28 

3 

136 

4 

26 

54 

59 

30 

3 

i 

177 

12 

1 

14  37 

42 

46 

24 

3 

167 

13 

34 

57 

44 

29 

i 

178 

13 

3 

6  17 

30 

45  31 

14 

146 

7 

24 

31 

33 

39 

15 

149 

14 

1 

9 

19 

12  27 

28 

96 

3 

7 

13 

28 

23  22 

96 

15 

2 

1 

2 

4 

9 

12 

30 

1 

3 

12 

13 

11 

40 

16 

2 

2 

8 

12 

1 

1 

2 

6 

6 

16 

17 

1   1 

2 

4 

1 

4 

5 

Total 

109 

104 

164  177 

165 

145  97 

67 

1028 

123 

121 

201 

188 

198 

153 

117  56 

1157 

TABLE   XV. — NUMBER    REPORTED   TO   THE    ATTENDANCE     OFFICERS     IN 
SCHOOLS  INVESTIGATED,   BY  SEX,  GRADE  AND  AGE. 


BOYS 

GIRLS 

AGE 

fa 

Second 

1 

A 

c 

1 

£ 

x 

1 

X 
id 

I 

i 

Second 

J 

I 

X 

fa 

x 
c: 
11 

| 

\ 

i 

1 

8 

1 

2 

2 

5 

3 

5 

3 

11 

9 

7 

9 

16 

5 

6 

1 

12 

10 

1 

5 

3 

2 

1 

12 

1 

5 

6 

5 

3 

20 

11 

3 

11 

3 

10 

1 

28 

7 

10 

9 

4 

30 

12 

2 

14 

9 

18 

1 

44 

3 

12 

19 

11 

4 

49 

13 

.1 

2 

10 

9 

17 

7 

46 

4 

6 

19 

19 

5 

i 

54 

14 

1 

7 

5 

5 

1 

19 

2 

4 

7 

4 

17 

15 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

8 

2 

5 

2 

9 

16 

1 

1 

1 

i 

4 

Total 

1 

H~ 

-32 

32 

38 

46 

14 

2 

179 

4 

15 

29 

36 

57 

48    15 

2 

206 

42 


In  Table  XV  is  shown  the  sex,  grade  and  age  of  the  pupils  re- 
ported to  the  attendance  officers  from  February*  ist,  1908  to  Febru- 
ary ist,  1909,  for  the  schools  investigated.  The  table  shows  that  the 
number  reported  increased  from  the  first  to  the  sixth  grade  in  the 
case  of  the  boys  and  to  the  fifth  grade  in  the  case  of  the  girls.  Then 
there  was  a  large  yearly  decrease  to  the  end  of  the  eigth  grade.  Of 
course,  some  were  reported  in  the  grade  below  the  one  in  which 
they  were  enrolled  when  the  investigation  was  conducted.  This  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  records  were  made  from  the  cards  after  the 
semi-annual  promotions.  It  was  not  possible  to  trace  each  pupil's 
record  to  the  grade  where  the  absence  or  absences  occurred.  The 
column  headed  totals  shows  how  many  boys  and  girls  reported  were 
of  a  certain  age.  The  number  reported  increased  from  the  eighth  to 
the  thirteenth  year.  Then  there  was  a  large  annual  decrease  to  the 
end  of  the  compulsory  school  age.  The  boys  and  girls  who  have 
been  recorded  in  the  table  as  sixteen  years  of  age,  were  reported  be- 
fore they  had  reached  the  compulsory  age  limit.  Their  record  was  in- 
cluded because  the  absences  for  which  they  were  reported  occurred 
during  the  year  for  which  the  investigation  was  made  and  before  they 
had  reached  their  sixteenth  birthday.  The  difference  between  the 
number  of  boys  and  girls,  reported  at  each  age  period,  is  very  small. 
The  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  boys  and  girls  reported  shows 
almost  no  difference.  17.4  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  the  boys 
and  17.8  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  the  girls,  in  the  schools 
investigated,  were  reported  to  the  attendance  officers.  It  ,was  not 
possible,  however,  to  determine  exactly  what  per  cent  of  the  pupils 
were  reported  in  one  year.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  attend- 
ance cards  of  those  who  have  quit  school  or  moved  to  another  district 
or  city  were  withdrawn  from  the  teachers'  records  or  were  supposed 
to  be  withdrawn.  In  a  number  of  cases,  however,  these  cards  were 
still  in  the  possession  of  the  teachers  under  whom  these  children  had 
been  in  school.  In  order  to  avoid  any  difficulty  from  including  the 
record  of  children  not  in  school,  the  attendance  cards  were  compared 
with  the  enrollment  cards.  In  some  cases  the  grade  of  the  children 
was  thus  determined.  This  comparison  made  the  age  records  more 
nearly  accurate.  Sometimes  the  age  record  on  the  attendance  and 
enrollment  cards  did  not  agree.  The  latter  was  always  accepted  as 
correct,  especially  when  it  showed  a  corrected  age  which  differed  from 

43 


the  first  recorded  age  in  the  year  and  occasionally  in  the  month  and 
day. 

Table  XVI  shows  the  number  of  days  for  which  the  pupils  were 
reported  each  time,  by  sex  and  grade.  This  table  shows  how  many  re- 
ports in  each  grade  were  for  each  of  the  number  of  days  given  in  col- 
umn i.  The  total  number  of  reports  for  any  period  of  days  is 
given  in  the  last  column  under  totals.  Since  the  compulsory  at- 
tendance law  requires  that  each  child  who  has  been  absent  three 
days  or  their  equivalent,  without  a  lawful  excuse,  be  reported  to 
the  attendance  officers,  especial  attention  was  paid  to  the  two  and 
one-half  and  three  and  one-half  days.  When  the  period  of  absence 
was  any  other  day  plus  a  half  day,  the  half  day  was  counted  as  a  whole 
day  in  order  not  to  burden  the  table  with  extra  details.  This  has 
not  made  the  table  less  valuable,  since  the  aim  has  been  to  show  that 
the  period  for  which  absences  are  reported  is  not  always  three  days  or 
their  equivalent,  as  the  law  of  compulsory  attendance  requires. 

Difficulty  was  encounted  in  determining  the  number  of  days  for 
which  children  were  reported  each  time,  due  to  the  way  in  which  the 
data  were  recorded.  Sometimes  only  the  two  days  which  gave  the 
limits  of  the  period  of  absence  were  recorded.  Some  cards  showed  a 
separation  of  the  days  reported  by  a  dash,  and  when  this  was  used  for 
two  days,  it  was  necessary  to  study  the  teacher's  method  of  recording 
dates  before  deciding  the  length  of  the  period  reported.  All  ab- 
sences extending  over  nine  days  were  classed  under  miscellaneous. 
These  generally  represented  periods  of  absence  due  to  sickness. 
School  days  only  were  counted  in  determining  the  length  of  the 
absences. 

This  table  shows  that  there  is  no  uniform  rule  followed  in  re- 
porting children  who  are  absent.  No  reason  has  been  found  to  satis- 
factorily explain  the  great  variation  in  number  of  days  for  which 
absences  are  reported.  It  certainly  shows  a  disregard  for  the  com- 
pulsory attendance  law  or  ignorance  of  its  demands.  The  manner  in 
which  the  record  of  days  absent  is  kept  on  the  attendance  cards  lends 
weight  to  the  argument  that  teachers  are  negligent  in  performing 
their  part  in  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law. 
There  is  a  possible  explanation,  however,  of  the  periods  under  three 
days.  In  many  cases  this  may  represent  a  second  report  for  the  same 
period  of  absence.  If  the  day  recorded  on  the  card,  which  represent- 
ed the  first  day  absent  for  which  the  report  was  made,  was  the  next 

44 


TABLE  XVI. NUMBER    OF    DAYS    FOR   WHICH    PUPILS    WERE    REPORTED 

EACH  TIME,   BY  SEX  AND  GRADE. 


BOYS 

GIRLS 

43 

*o 

£ 

DAYS 

I 

£ 

1 

i 

Fourth 

£ 
£ 

35 

Sevent 

43 
bJ> 

2 

i 

1 

a 
o 

I 

43 
P 

43 

i 

c 

^ 

Is 

• 
1 

i 

I 

| 

1 

i 

11 

8 

10 

1 

32 

1 

1 

i 

1 

12 

16 

2 

19 

13 

14 

11 

10 

3 

70 

16 

10 

17 

17 

8 

5 

i 

74 

5 

2 

3 

1 

11 

1 

3 

3 

1 

8 

3  2 

23 

16 

18 

18 

18 

5 

98 

10 

13 

15 

23 

20 

5 

3 

89 

1 

1 

2 

4 

1 

3 

4 

4  2 

17 

9 

18 

22 

6 

3 

75 

1 

9 

16 

14 

17 

9 

4 

1 

71 

5 

13 

18 

12 

8 

13 

3 

1 

68 

2 

10 

22 

19 

22 

13 

5 

93 

6 

2 

5 

3 

7 

13 

3 

1 

34 

2 

3 

4 

17 

5 

3 

1 

35 

7 

2 

5 

4 

5 

4 

2 

22 

1 

5 

3 

6 

7 

7 

2 

1 

32 

8 

1 

2 

3 

4 

1 

2 

13 

3 

1 

3 

5 

2 

14 

9 

1 

1 

3 

3 

8 

2 

3 

4 

3 

12 

Miscel- 

1 

3 

4 

13 

10 

17 

2 

50 

1 

6 

11 

12 

22 

14 

3 

69 

laneous 

TABLE  XVII. NUMBER  OF  TIMES  EACH  CHILD  WAS    REPORTED,    BY    SEX 

AND  GRADE. 


BOYS 

GIRLS 

TIMES 

I 
to 

Second 

3 

lif 
P 

^ 
1 

£ 

£ 

£ 

"x 

33 

Seventh 

43 

I 

W 

1 

| 

£ 

Second 

•d 

IH 

43 
P 

Fourth 

43 

« 

£ 

rS 
c/5 

Seventh 

43 

5 

a 

1 

1 

1 

3 

17 

11 

19 

26 

10 

2 

89 

2 

7 

11 

12 

26 

27 

10 

95 

2 

1 

6 

8 

7 

9 

31 

1 

2 

10 

10 

12 

9 

1 

i 

46 

3 

1 

3 

2 

5 

3 

2 

16 

1 

1 

4 

5 

5 

3 

2 

21 

4 

2 

1 

4 

2 

3 

12 

1 

4 

5 

4 

14 

5 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

7 

2 

4 

4 

1 

i 

12 

6 

2 

1 

2 

1 

6 

2 

1 

3 

1 

1 

8 

7 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

6 

1 

1 

8 

2 

1 

3 

1 

2 

3 

9 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

10-15 

3 

1 

2 

1 

7 

2 

3 

5 

45 


school  day  following  the  last  day  reported  in  the  previous  report  for 
absence,  the  conclusion  can  be  made  that  the  first  investigation  had 
failed  to  yield  the  desired  result.  If  the  first  or  only  day  recorded  in 
this  second  report  is  two  or  more  school  days  after  the  last  day  report- 
ed in  the  previous  record  of  days  absent,  there  are  two  possible  solu- 
tions for  a  one  or  two  days'  report.  The  children  may  not  have  re- 
turned after  the  previous  investigation.  In  making  a  second  report 
oi  the  same  period,  the  teacher  may  have  considered  it  sufficient  to 
record  only  the  day  on  which  the  second  report  was  made  because  of 
the  fact  that  the  limit  of  three  days  had  been  reached.  The  attend- 
ance officer  was  to  assume  from  this  that  the  child  did  not  return  af- 
ter the  previous  investigation.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  a  new 
report.  The  case  was  troublesome,  so  the  teacher  decided  to  keep 
close  watch  on  the  child  thus  reported,  and,  if  possible,  keep  it  in 
school.  In  making  Table  XVI,  however,  a  second  report  for  the 
same  period  of  absence  was  always  considered  as  a  separate  report 
so  that  this  would  not  account  for  the  periods  above  three  days.  This 
plan  nas  been  followed  because  it  was  not  always  possible  to  decide 
whether  it  was  a  new  or  a  second  report  of  the  same  period  of  ab- 
sence. The  fact  that  suggestions  only  can  be  made  to  explain  the 
periods  reported  more  or  less  than  three  days,  lends  weight  to  the  ar- 
gument that  the  records  are  not  always  properly  and  accurately  kept 
on  the  attendance  cards.  Two  cases  will  be  given  to  illustrate  the 
variation  of  days  for  which  children  are  reported  to  the  attendance 
officers.  A  boy  eleven  years  old,  in  the  second  grade,  was  reported 
15  times  in  one  year.  The  sum  of  the  days  for  which  he  was  report- 
ed was  sixty.  This  is  an  average  of  four  days  to  a  report.  12  times 
the  attendance  officer  reported  him  as  a  truant.  In  another  school,  a 
girl  fourteen  years  old,  in  the  sixth  grade,  was  reported  n  times  in 
sixteen  months.  She  was  reported  absent  twelve  and  one  half  days. 
This  is  an  average  of  only  a  fraction  over  a  day  for  each  report.  A 
number  of  the  reports  were  for  a  half  day. 

The  difficulty  in  explaining  the  above  variations  in  the  periods 
for  which  absences  are  reported  has  been  increased  by  the  fact  that 
the  teachers  generally  do  not  record  on  the  attendance  cards,  in  the 
space  provided,  the  time  of  return  of  those  reported  to  the  attendance 
officers.  The  only  way  to  determine  from  the  attendance  cards 
whether  those  reported  have  returned,  is  by  means  of  the  next  report 
to  the  attendance  officers.  If  the  next  report  immediately  follows  the 

46 


previous  one,  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  child  did  not  return  after 
the  former  investigation.  If  there  is  no  immediate  report  of  ab- 
sence, the  child  is  supposed  to  have  returned  to  school  after  the  at- 
tendance officer's  visit  to  its  home.  The  time  of  return  of  a  reported 
child,  however,  should  be  recorded  by  the  teacher  in  the  space  pro- 
vided on  the  attendance  card.  This  would  be  useful  information  to 
the  attendance  officer  in  making  further  investigations  of  the  same 
child.  It  would  show  him  how  promptly  the  parents  of  the  child 
had  placed  it  in  school,  after  promising  that  it  would  return.  The 
absence  of  the  record  of  the  return  of  reported  children  made  it 
impossible  to  determine  how  promptly  children  return  after  the 
attendance  officers  have  visited  their  homes  to  find  out  the  cause  of 
their  absence  from  school.  This  information  would  be  interesting 
and  would  also  show,  in  part,  the  efficiency  of  the  bureau  that  has 
charge  of  enforcing  the  compulsory  attendance  law  or  its  ability  or 
lack  of  ability  to  deal  with  this  part  of  the  problem  that  is  confronting 
the  bureau  for  a  solution.  The  date  of  return,  however,  was  recorded 
on  some  of  the  cards,  but  the  smallness  of  the  number  and  the  doubt 
as  to  their  accuracy  would  make  the  statistics  obtained  from  such 
an  investigation  of  such  a  character  that  they  would  be  hardly  repre- 
sentative of  the  conditions  in  the  City  or  show  the  average  time  of 
return  of  those  reported,  and  so  would  be  misleading  in  any  conclu- 
sions that  might  be  drawn  from  them. 

Table  XVI  shows  that  there  is  not  much  difference  between  the 
boys  and  girls  in  the  number  of  times  reported.  The  boys  were  re- 
ported 485  times  and  the  girls  517  times.  The  girls,  however,  sur- 
pass the  boys  in  the  higher  number  of  days  for  which  they  were  re- 
ported. 

In  Table  XVII  is  given  the  number  of  times  each  one  was  re- 
ported, by  sex  and  grade.  Since  this  investigation  was  limited  to  the 
reports  of  one  year,  difficulty  was  encountered  in  determining  how 
many  of  the  reported  absences  on  the  attendance  cards  were  for  the 
period  February  ist,  1908  to  February  ist,  1909.  3-26  in  the  column 
headed  "Date  Reported"  on  the  attendance  cards  could  stand  for 
March  26th,  1908,  or  March  26th,  1907,  or  even  a  year  or  more  be- 
fore the  latter  date.  By  comparing  the  date  and  grade,  errors  were 
eliminated,  and  a  due  degree  of  accuracy  can  be  claimed  for  the  table. 

The  table  shows  that  almost  one-half  of  the  pupils  reported  to 
the  attendance  officers  were  reported  only  once  during  the  year  in- 

47 


vestigated,  and  almost  three-fourths  are  within  the  limits  of  two  re- 
ports. There  are  still  some  difficult  cases  that  claim  the  attention  of 
the. attendance  officers,  as  can  easily  be  seen  from  the  table.  There 
is  not  much  difference  between  the  boys  and  the  girls  in  the  number 
of  times  for  which  they  were  reported  during  the  year.  There  seems 
to  be,  judging  from  the  above  tables  in  this  chapter,  the  same  difficul- 
ty in  keeping  the  girls  in  school  as  the  boys.  Taking  into  considera- 
tion the  entire  number  of  boys  and  girls  in  the  schools  investigated, 
their  separate  reports  have  been  about  equal  in  the  per  cents  based 
on  the  original  numbers. 

Table  XVIII  shows  the  reasons  for  absences  as  recorded  by  the 
attendance  officers.  The  reasons  have  been  classed  under  general 
heads.  The  statistics  of  the  boys  and  the  girls  have  not  been  re- 
corded separately.  A  few  excuses,  which  could  not  be  placed  in 
any  of  the  general  classes  in  the  table,  have  been  listed  under  mis- 
cellaneous. This  class  contains  also  a  few  excuses  that  could  not  be 
definitely  listed  on  account  of  the  impossibility  of  deciphering  the 
illegible  writing.  Sickness  of  the  children  or  of  members  of  their 
families  account  for  over  one-third  of  the  reasons  for  absenteeism. 
The  class  marked  "No  investigation"  needs  explanation.  Children 
were  reported  to  the  attendance  officers,  but  in  the  space  on  the 
attendance  cards  provided  for  a  report  of  the  results  of  the  investi- 
gation, no  reasons  were  recorded.  This  class  contains  almost  one- 
fifth  of  the  cases  reported  and  varied  from  eight  to  twenty-five  per 
cent  of  all  the  cases  reported,  in  the  schools  where  this  investigation 
was  made.  It  hardly  seems  probable  that  a  careful  attendance  officer 
would  fail  to  record  the  results  of  his  investigation.  No  direct  state- 
ment was  obtained  to  explain  the  failure  to  record  reasons  for  ab- 
sence in  the  proper  place  on  the  attendance  cards,  but  the  require- 
ments of  the  law  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  "No  investigation"  ex- 
plains the  lack  of  records.  The  "No  reason"  class  represents  the 
cases  where  the  attendance  officers  recorded  no  reasons  for  the  ab- 
sences but  stated  that  action  was  being  taken  to  place  the  children 
in  school.  It  seemed  advisable  to  make  a  separate  list  of  the  re- 
ports where  there  were  records  of  action  taken  to  place  in  school  the 
children  reported.  In  some  cases  a  preliminary  notice  was  sent  when 
the  reason  recorded  on  the  cards  was  sickness.  Evidently  the  at- 
tendance officers  had  cause  to  doubt  the  excuses  given  to  explain  the 
reasons  for  the  absences  of  the  children  under  investigation.  All  the 

48 


TABLE  XVIII. REASONS  GIVEN  FOR  THE  ABSENCE  OF   THOSE    REPORTED 

TO  THE  ATTENDANCE  OFFICERS,   BY   GRADE. 


EXCUSES 

& 

Second 

•o 

2 
P 

,0 

2 

1 

£ 

E 

J3 

"P 

c73 

Seventh 

.5 

J3 
'-t 

:~ 

1 

c 
6 
u 

2 

Sickness  
Sickness  in  family    

6 

20 
11 

53 
13 

52 

7 

74 
31 

68 
13 

13 

7 

4 
1 

290 
83 

28.94 

8.28 

Out    

9 

7 

30 

4 

9 

5 

1 

55 

5.49 

Out  of  City     

2 

2 

8 

4 

11 

4 

31 

3.10 

Charity  needed     

33 

19 

1 

9 

2 

54 

5.39 

Needed  at  home 

3 

4 

6 

18 

13 

5 

48 

4.79 

Moved 

2 

3 

1? 

10 

11 

6 

3 

47 

4.69 

Truant                 

34 

6 

9 

7 

7 

1 

54 

5.39 

Miscellaneous 

7 

9 

37 

30 

17 

5 

1 

96 

9.58 

No  investigation          

33 

77 

48 

31 

43 

13 

193 

19.26 

No  reason  

8 

4 

10 

18 

8 

2 

1 

51 

5.09 

Totals  

8 

142 

156 

198 

237 

196 

56 

9 

1002 

100.00 

Action  taken      

~- 

Reported  to  Office  

1 

1 

4 

6 

1 

13 

1.30 

Preliminary  notice  

11 

6 

3 

17 

7 

3 

47 

4.69 

Interviewed   

2 

2 

5 

jj 

3 

1 

1 

15 

1.49 

Reported  to  charity 

? 

2 

0.20 

Totals  

0 

16 

9 

1? 

3S 

10 

4 

1 

77 

7.68 

excuses  classed  under  "No  reasons"  were  inlcuded  under  the  classes 
given  in  the  list  headed  "Action  taken".  This  list  has  made  it 
possible  to  record  double  reasons,  when  found,  and  yet  not  make  un- 
just comparisons  between  the  different  classes  of  reasons  for  ab- 
sences. Truancy  was  recorded  as  a  reason  for  absence  in  very  few 
cases.  Since  action  was  taken  in  all  the  cases  classed  under  "No 
reasons,''  these  can  be  added  to  the  truancy  class.  This  would  make 
a  total  of  over  ten  per  cent  of  all  reported  classed  as  truants. 

It  is  not  possible  to  determine  from  the  attendance  cards,  to  any 
great  extent,  the  efficiency  of  the  attendance  officers.  The  number 
of  cases  where  no  reasons  are  recorded  to  show  that  investigations 
were  made  is  an  argument  against  their  efficiency.  The  character  of 
the  excuses  accepted  by  them  in  making  their  investigations,  in  part, 
determines  their  efficiency,  but  principals  and  teachers  only  can 
decide  the  extent  of  their  efficiency  in  this  matter.  The  manner  in 
which  the  attendance  officers  conduct  their  investigations  has  an  in- 
fluence on  the  children's  return.  It  was  not  possible  to  test  this. 

In  Table  XIX  is  given  a  number  of  troublesome  cases  that  seem- 
ed to  be  of  interest.  The  most  important  excuses  have  been  given 
to  show  the  character  of  the  reasons  given  to  the  attendance  officers. 

49 


TABLE  XIX. — A  LIST  OF  TROUBLESOME   CASES   IN  THE  SCHOOLS  INVESTI- 
GATED. 


BOYS 

GIRLS 

•d 
<5-r 

•e« 

8g 

^  w 

•d 

So 

.2  -g 

Most  Important 

•d 

So 

.2* 

Most  Imprtant 

2 

§ 

cT! 

i^c 

Excuses 

£ 

be 

h£ 

fc§ 

Excuses 

O 

c£ 

^S 

O 

< 

et 

*,£ 

2 

9 

12 

15 

Sickness,  charity  need- 

IT 

8 

13 

6 

Sickness 

ed. 

2 

9 

8 

12 

Sickness,    sent    home 

2 

9 

15 

12 

No  shoes,   no  report, 

twice 

don't  know 

2 

9 

8 

12 

Sickness,    truant,     no 

2 

9 

8 

12 

Sickness 

report 

2 

9 

15 

15 

Sickness,     charity, 

2 

10 

7 

6 

Truant 

truancy 

2 

11 

15 

12 

Truant  (12  times),  no- 

3 

9 

9 

12 

Sick,  out,  no  report 

tice  and  prosecuted 

3 

15 

5 

12 

Needed,  truant 

3 

10 

11 

12 

Sickness,  no  report 

3 

15 

6 

12 

Sick,   sent    to  special 

3 

11 

2 

12 

Moved,       preliminary 

school 

notice 

4 

11 

10 

30 

Sickness,  no  response 

3 

12 

24 

24 

Sickness,    no    report, 

preliminary  notice 

4 

11 

16 

16 

No  report  (10  times) 

3 

13 

10 

4 

Mother    sick,    charity 

needed,  notice 

5 

11 

7 

12 

Truant 

4 

10 

4 

6 

Sickness,   preliminary 

notice 

5 

11 

2 

12 

Truant 

4 

12 

10 

16 

Sickness 

5 

12 

3 

12 

Truant 

5 

11 

3 

12 

Sickness  in  family 

5 

12 

*  1 

12 

Sickness,   reported  to 

5 

12 

8 

12 

office 

5 

13 

12 

12 

Truant 

5 

12 

8 

12 

Sickness,    moved,   no 

good  excuse 

6 

12 

2 

12 

Truant,       preliminary 

5 

13 

6 

12 

Charity   needed,    pre- 

notice 

liminary  notice 

6 

13 

13 

16 

Sickness 

6 

13 

12 

24 

Charity  needed,  sick- 

ness 

6 

15 

2 

12 

Truant 

6 

14 

3 

12 

Truant 

6 

15 

3 

12 

Truant 

6 

14 

11 

16 

Toothache,  grippe,  re- 

moved, truant 

6 

12 

2 

12 

Truant,      Preliminary 

7 

12 

13 

12 

Mother  sick 

notice 

To  these  statistics  have  been  added  the  records  of  a  few  children  who 
were  not  behind  their  respective  classes  in  age.  In  these  cases  the 
reasons  given  are  generally  sickness,  although  a  few  cases  of  truancy 
were  reported  among  these.  Attention  was  paid  to  the  truant  class 
although  all  the  truants  have  not  been  included  in  this  table  as  it 
was  not  intended  to  make  it  complete  but  only  representative  of  the 
difficulties  of  enforcing  the  compulsory  attendance  law. 

The  results  of  the  investigation  show  that  the  records  on  the 
attendance  cards  are  not  carefully  kept.     Important  data  are     not 


50 


recorded.  Investigations  are  not  made  in  all  the  cases  reported  to  the 
attendance  officers.  The  law  is  not  fully  enforced  in  the  case  of 
the  number  of  days  absence  for  which  children  should  be  reported. 
The  attendance  cards  are  not  always  transferred"  with  the  pupils. 
Attendance  cards  of  those  who  have  left  school  are  often  in  the  pos- 
a  new  attendance  card  was  made  out  each  year  or  every  few  years, 
session  of  the  teachers.  It  was  not  possible  to  determine  whether 
or  the  same  card  used  for  reporting  until  the  child  left  school  or  the 
card  was  full.  The  cards  seemed  to  reveal  the  fact  that  all  the  plans 
suggested  were  followed.  In  some  cases  there  were  two  or  three 
cards  for  the  same  child.  Occasionally  these  cards  were  held  by 
different  teachers.  The  final  destination  of  the  cards  could  not  be 
fully  determined.  The  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  is  under 
the  impression  that  the  attendance  cards  of  all  who  have  left  school 
are  sent  to  its  office.  Investigations  favor  the  conclusion  that  all  the 
attendance  cards  are  not  sent  to  the  office  of  the  Bureau. 

The  attendance  officers  report  troublesome  cases  to  the  Bureau 
of  Compulsory  Education.  The  past  records  of  children  thus  report- 
ed are  furnished.  Investigations  are  made  by  the  Bureau.  The  rec- 
ord of  the  trouble  and  its  disposition  is  placed  on  the  enrollment  card 
of  each  child  investigated,  which  cards  are  in  the  office  of  the  Bureau 
of  Compulsory  Education.  If  the  reported  age  of  a  child  is  doubted, 
the  true  age  is  determkied  from  the  vital  statistics  of  the  city,  the  pass- 
port or  baptismal  certificate. 

Arrangements  had  been  made  to  verify,  in  the  same  way,  the 
age  of  those  applying  for  employment  affidavits.  When  the  law  of 
1905,  under  which  employment  affidavits  were  issued,  was  declared 
unconstitutional,  this  plan  could  not  be  systematically  carried  out. 
Under  the  present  law,  a  notary  or  magistrate  can  grant  an  employ- 
ment affidavit  to  any  child  whose  parents  declare,  under  oath,  that 
the  child  is  fourteen  years  old.  This  permits  the  child  to  obtain  an 
employment  affidavit  without  the  knowledge  of  the  principal  of  the 
school  where  he  was  last  in  attendance.  If  a  notary  or  magistrate 
issues  an  employment  affidavit  to  a  child  enrolled  in  school,  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  school  reports  the  case  to  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory 
Education,  when  the  school  record  shows  that  the  child  is  not  fourteen 
years  old.  The  Bureau  verifies  the  age  by  means  of  the  vital  statistics 
of  the  city,  passport  or  baptismal  certificate.  If  the  child  is  not  four- 
teen years  old,  as  shown  by  this  verification,  he  is  reported  to  the 

51 


attendance  officer  who  tries  to  find  him  and  replace  him  in  school. 
The  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  requires  a  statement  from  the 
principal  of  the  school  where  the  child  attends,  before  granting  an 
employment  affidavit.  The  age  is  verified,  and,  if  the  child  is  found 
to  be  fourteen  years  old,  the  employment  affidavit  is  granted.  It  can 
readily  be  seen  that  the  present  method  of  granting  employment  affida- 
vits has  increased  the  difficulties  attendant  upon  the  enforcement  of 
the  compulsory  attendance  law  in  Philadelphia.  It  seems  no  more  than 
reasonable  that  the  same  bureau  which  is  charged  with  placing  all 
the  children  in  school  and  keeping  them  in  regular  daily  attendance, 
so  far  as  possible,  should  have  the  authority  entirely  to  grant  all  the 
permissions  to  those  who  ask  to  leave  school  as  soon  as  the  law  per- 
mits them. 

An  investigation  was  made  during  the  fall  months  of  1908  to 
find  why  children  leave  the  public  schools.  This  investigation  cov- 
ered twenty  schools  of  Philadelphia.  The  reasons  have  been  sum- 
marized and  are  given  in  Table  XX,  classified  according  to  age  at 
time  of  withdrawal. 

Possibly  most  of  the  reasons  for  leaving  the  public  schools,  re- 
corded in  Table  XX,  are  legitimate.  The  table  does  show  the  diffi- 
culties encountered  in  enforcing  the  law  of  compulsory  attendance. 
The  number  of  children  that  left  to  enter  the  parochial  school  is  very 


TABLE   XX. REASON    FOR    CHILDREN    LEAVING   THE    SCHOOLS,     CLASSI- 
FIED  ACCORDING   TO    AGE   AT   TIME   OF  WITHDRAWAL* 


REASONS 

OJ 

> 

£ 

x 

£ 

0 
4) 

| 

1 

3 

| 
Z 

t 

Eleven 

Twelve 

$ 

fa 

1 

£ 

Sixteen 

42 
g 

To  parochial  schools     .    . 
Moved  to  unknown  address 
Moved  out  of  city   .... 
Moved     
Absent    7    weeks  —  name 
taken  from  roll     .... 
Not  returned  since  vacation 
Unknown 

2 

1 
6 
3 
4 

2. 
7 
2 

9 
7 

5 
7 

1 

1 

9 
3 
11 

7 

1 
1 

13 
9 
8 
4 

1 
1 

7 
8 
13 
2 

1 

6 
1 
4 
1 

3 
1 

7 
4 
9 

1 

3 
1 

9 
3 
9 

1 

3 
1 

3 
2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

61 
42 
68 
31 

17 

8 
8 

Work                             .    .    . 

7t 

17 

52 

11 

?, 

84 

Needed  at  home  
Non-attendance  —  name 
dropped. 

5 

3 

1 

1 

1 

2 

7 

1 

1 

12 
10 

Sickness                    .... 

1 

1 

1 

1 

^ 

3 

1 

1 

12 

Left  for  or  placed  in  home 
Miscellaneous 

1 

3 

6 

5 

4 

3 

1 

9 

1 
1 

5 

4 

? 

3 

1 

9 

33 

*The  data  in  this  table  was  furnished  by  a  civic  society  of  Philadelphia. 

52 


large.  This  varies  for  the  different  schools  investigated.  A  large 
number  go  to  work  as  soon  as  they  reach  the  age  of  fourteen.  Atten- 
tion should  be  called  to  the  nineteen,  under  the  work  class,  who  have 
not  yet  reached  the  age  limit  which  permits  them  to  leave  school 
and  go  to  work.  The  moving  of  children  from  one  district  to  an- 
other or  out  of  the  city  presents  difficulties  for  the  attendance  officers. 
In  several  cases  the  names  of  children  were  dropped  for  non-attend- 
ance. In  the  case  of  those  dropped  temporarily,  it  was  often  due 
to  a  legitimate  reason  for  absence,  as,  for  example,  continued  illness 
of  the  child.  Some  names  were  dropped  entirely.  It  has  not  been 
possible  to  determine  how  many  names  are  dropped  from  the  school 
rolls  each  year  and  the  reasons  for  dropping  them.  Table  XX  does 
not  throw  much  light  on  the  efforts  made  to  replace  the  children 
in  the  public  schools,  or  how  far  the  attendance  officers  go  in  investi- 
gating the  location  of  the  children  who  leave  the  schools. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CONCLUSION. 

This  investigation  has  been  carried  on  with  two  ends  in  view; 
first,  to  see  whether  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the  school  enroll- 
ment and  average  attendance  since  the  passage  of  the  compulsory  at- 
tendance law;  second,  to  determine,  so  far  as  possible,  what  is  being 
done  to  efficiently  enforce  the  law  of  compulsory  attendance. 

The  first  part  of  the  investigation  has  been  prefaced  by  a  study 
of  the  influence  of  compulsory  attendance  laws  on  the  enrollment  and 
average  attendance  of  the  United  States,  its  divisions  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. Every  effort  has  been  made  to  account  for  influences  that  may 
have  a  marked  effect  on  enrollment  and  attendance.  These  influences 
have  been  noted  and  considered  in  making  the  comparisons  and  draw- 
ing conclusions  therefrom.  The  results  of  the  comparisons,  howev- 
er, are  somewhat  disappointing,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  number 
of  states  under  compulsory  attendance  laws  is  increasing.  This  is  no 
argument  that  the  laws  of  compulsory  attendance  are  ineffective. 
Three  explanations  may  be  given  for  the  decrease  in  school  enrollment 
and  average  attendance  during  the  years  1900  to  1907.  This  period 
showed  a  marked  decrease  for  the  United  States,  all  its  divisions,  ex- 
cept the  Western,  Pennsylvania  and  Philadelphia.  First,  there  may 

53 


be  a  less  per  cent  of  the  population  of  school  age,  due  to  a  lower 
birth  rate  and  adult  immigration.  Investigation  and  comparisons  of 
the  last  three  census  years  favor  the  conclusion  that  the  birth  rate  is 
steadily  decreasing.  The  national  census  for  1910,  however,  will 
decide  the  question  as  to  the  influence  of  a  lower  birth  rate  and  adult 
immigration  on  the  school  enrollment  and  average  attendance  for 
the  period  1900  to  1910.  Second,  changed  conditions  may  have  their 
influences.  Changes  in  the  environment  of  children  during  the  first 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  made  necessary  the  passage  of  the 
truant  law  in  1850,  and  the  compulsory  attendance  law  in  1852,  in 
Massachusetts.  In  fact,  all  the  compulsory  attendance  laws  may  be 
said  to  be  due  to  the  changed  environment  of  children.  The  formei 
methods  and  laws  for  placing  children  in  school  and  keeping  them 
in  regular  daily  attendance,  so  far  as  possible,  gradually  became  in- 
effective. There  is  no  way,  however,  to  determine  what  the  school 
enrollment  and  average  attendance  would  now  be  for  any  state  or 
city  under  compulsory  attendance  laws,  if  such  laws  were  not  in 
force  in  said  city  or  state.  But  a  knowledge  of  the  present  condition 
of  children,  especially  in  the  cities,  and  the  commercial  instinct  that 
very  often  dominates  them  and  their  parents  give  some  idea  as  to  what 
the  result  would  be  in  a  city  or  state  if  the  laws  of  compulsory  attend- 
ance would  be  disannulled.  No  just  comparisons  can  be  made  between 
cities  or  states  with  compulsory  attendance  laws  and  those  without 
such  laws,  as  the  conditions  would  not  be  the  same.  Third,  possibly 
the  compulsory  attendance  laws  are  not  efficiently  and  effectively 
efforced.  This  leads  to  the  second  part  of  the  investigation  where  the 
test  has  been  made  to  determine,  so  far  as  possible,  whether  the  com- 
pulsory attendance  law  has  been  efficiently  executed  in  Philadelphia. 

Four  things  seem  necessary  to  enforce  the  compulsroy  attend- 
ance law ;  adequate  school  accommodations,  a  school  census  which  en- 
rolls all  the  childern  in  the  city  or  district,  complete  and  accurate  at- 
tendance records,  and  an  efficiently  organized  bureau  for  enforcing 
the  law  of  compulsory  attendance. 

While  the  number  of  children  to  a  teacher  is  decreasing  for 
Philadelphia,  as  shown  in  Chapter  III,  the  reports  of  children  on 
half-time  indicate  that  the  present  accommodations  are  not  sufficient 
for  all  the  children  who  apply  for  admission  to  the  public  schools  or 
are  brought  in  under  the  law.  The  further  important  question  as  to 

54 


whether  school  accommodations  are  adequate  to  the  population  of  the 
respective  districts  was  not  touched  upon  by  the  investigation. 

The  school  census  was  considered,  at  length,  in  Chapter  IV.  The 
comparisons  in  that  chapter  seem  to  show  conclusively  that  the  school 
census  of  Philadelphia  is  too  low.  Either  the  children  have  not  been 
found  by  the  attendance  officers  in  taking  the  census,  or  have  escaped 
enrollment  in  the  census  by  means  of  a  false  statement  as  to  age.  If 
a  child  or  his  parents  inform  the  attendance  officer  that  he  is  sixteen 
when  he  is  only  fourteen,  or  fourteen  so  that  he  is  permitted  to  go 
to  work,  and  informs  the  attendance  officer  that  he  has  obtained  an 
employment  affidavit,  when  he  is  only  twelve  or  thirteen,  there  is  no 
way  to  check  this  false  statement  by  the  census.  The  school  en- 
rollments must  be  used  as  a  check  in  such  cases.  This  requires  that 
lists  be  made  from  the  census  by  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education. 
These  lists  must  be  sent  to  the  schools  and  there  compared  with  the 
enrollments.  In  this  way  there  is  a  check  placed  on  giving  a  false 
report  of  age  to  the  attendance  officers  making  the  census,  or,  at  least, 
such  a  false  statement  is  detected  and  corrected  so  that  the  child  or 
children  will  not  benefit  from  the  statement  by  non-attendance  at 
school.  This  statement  is  made  in  the  light  of  the  great  difference 
between  the  school  and  national  censuses  for  Philadelphia,  for  1900, 
as  shown  in  Chapter  IV,  which  increases  as  the  work  age  is  reached, 
where  the  difference  is  very  great.  If  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Ed- 
ucation requires  parents  to  declare  on  oath  the  age  of  their  child  to 
obtain  an  employment  affidavit,  and  then  verify  this  age  by  the  vital 
statistics  of  the  city,  passport  or  baptismal  certificate,  caution  should 
also  be  used  in  accepting  the  report  of  the  age  of  children  in  making 
the  census.  This  is  especially  needful  if  there  is  to  be  no  check  on 
the  census  further  than  comparing  it  with  itself. 

The  present  method  of  comparing  the  school  census  made  by  the 
attendance  officers  with  the  school  enrollment  determined  also  by  the 
same  officers  in  making  the  census  seems  to  open  a  fruitful  field  for 
deception  by  the  parents  and  children  and  the  eluding  of  the  com- 
pulsory attendance  law.  This  comparison  is  useful  but  should  not 
be  the  only  one  used  to  check  the  census.  In  the  light  of  experience 
at  places  where  an  effort  has  been  made  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the 
school  census,  as  described  above  in  Chapter  IV,  checking  and  counter- 
checking  would  be  suggested  to  test  the  school  census  of  Philadelphia, 
although  the  checking  hardly  needs  to  be  mentioned  since  the  law 

55 


requires  that  to  be  done.  The  size  of  the  city  will  not  make  the 
problem  impossible  or  give  added  duties  to  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory 
Education,  that  will  seriously  interfere  with  its  present  work.  If  the 
work  be  properly  organized  and  divided,  it  can  be  done  expeditiously 
and  at  the  cost  of  little  extra  labor  to  anyone.  This  method  of  check- 
ing and  counter-checking  would  compel  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory 
Education  to  obey  the  law  requiring  the  making  out  of  lists,  from  the 
school  census,  showing  the  names  of  all  the  children  in  each  school 
district.  These  lists  should  be  sent  to  the  respective  schools  and  a  com- 
parsion  iriade  between  the  lists  and  school  enrollments,  under  the  sup- 
ervision of  the  principals.  The  names  on  the  lists,  which  were  found 
not  to  be  on  the  enrollments,  should  then  be  added  to  the  latter.  These 
lists  have  been  made  out  and  compared  with  the  school  enrollments, 
in  former  years.  The  law  requires  that  this  be  done  and  any  failure 
to  do  it,  as  was  the  case  in  1908,  is  contrary  to  the  demands  of  the 
law.  In  making  comparisons  between  the  census  lists  and  school  en- 
rollments, a  check  mark  should  be  placed  on  the  enrollment  cards. 
Enrollment  cards  could  be  made  with  spaces  for  such  a  check,  yearly, 
sc  that  the  check  mark  would  not  mutilate  or  disfigure  the  enroll- 
ment cards  or  interfere  with  a  similar  checking  in  other  years. 
After  the  first  comparison  has  been  made  and  the  names  added  to  the 
school  enrollments  that  were  found  on  the  lists  and  not  on  the  school 
enrollments,  the  school  enrollment  cards  would  reveal  how  many 
names,  by  the  absence  of  the  check  mark  suggested  above,  were  missed 
in  making  the  census  of  the  respctive  school  districts,  of  the  children 
who  came  to  school  without  the  aid  of  the  attendance  officers'  investi- 
gation. The  names,  thus  found,  should  then  be  reported  to  the 
Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education.  After  all  eliminations  had  been 
made,  if  there  were  any  due  to  the  fact  that  some  children  had  moved 
from  one  school  district  to  another  between  the  time  of  taking  the  cen- 
sus and  making  the  comparisons,  the  remaining  names  could  be  ad- 
ded to  the  enrollment  cards  in  the  office  of  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory 
Education.  Of  course,  this  plan  would  not  furnish  the  names  of 
those  missed  in  making  the  census,  who  did  not  enroll  in  school  in 
September  of  the  year  in  which  this  comparison  was  made.  If  these 
names  could  also  be  obtained,  the  carefulness  and  integrity  of  the 
attendance  officers  in  taking  or  making  the  census,  could,  to  a  great 
extent,  be  determined. 

In  Chapter  V  the  accuracy  and  completeness  or  lack  of  com- 

56 


pleteness  of  the  attendance  records  have  been-  considered.  Sufficient 
evidence  has  been  given  to  show  that  the  compulsory  attendance  rec- 
ords of  the  schools  are  not  accurately  kept.  The  cards  contain  suf- 
ficient columns  to  record  all  the  necessary  data  resulting  from  a  child's 
absence  and  the  attendance  officer's  investigation  of  the  cause  for  such 
absence.  There  should  be,  however,  more  care  exercised  in  recording 
the  data.  No  other  records  resulting  from  the  enforcement  of  the 
compulsory  attendance  laws  were  investigated,  except  the  printed  re- 
ports of  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education.  These  reports,  four  in 
number,  give  scarcely  any  data  to  show  what  has  been  done  to  enforce 
the  compulsory  attendance  law.  The  attendance  officers  are  supposed 
to  make  regular  reports  to  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education, 
which  give  an  account  of  all  the  work  done  by  them.  The  printed 
reports  of  the  Bureau,  however,  give  very  little  information  about  the 
work  of  the  attendance  officers.  This  is  especially  noticeable  when 
a  comparison  is  made  between  the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Compul- 
sory Education  of  Philadelphia  and  similar  reports  of  other  cities 
wThere  an  effort  has  been  made  to  give  to  the  public  as  full  an  account 
as  possible  of  the  working  of  the  compulsory  attendance  laws  and 
what  is  being  accomplished  through  them. 

The  fact  that  no  satisfactory  evidence  could  be  obtained  as  to  the 
final  destination  of  all  the  attendance  cards  adds  weight  to  the  state- 
ment that  the  records  of  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  attend- 
ance law  are  not  accurately  and  efficiently  kept. 

It  was  also  shown  in  Chapter  V  that  the  compulsory  attendance 
law  which  requires  that  a  child  who  has  been  absent  for  three  days 
or  their  equivalent  be  reported  to  the  attendance  officer,  was  not 
always  obeyed  by  the  teachers  in  reporting  children  who  had  been  ab- 
sent. Two  solutions  might  be  given  to  explain  this.  Either  the  teach- 
ers are  ignorant  of  the  demands  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law 
with  respect  to  the  period  for  which  children  who  have  been  absent 
should  be  reported,  and  how  to  determine  the  length  of  the  period,  or 
they  have  no  regard  for  the  requirements  of  the  law  and  prefer  their 
own  system  of  reporting  absentees. 

It  is  not  possible  to  decide  whether  the  excuses  recorded  in  Ta- 
ble XVIII  were  lawful  or  not.  The  immediate  return  to  school  of 
3.  child  reported  absent  is  the  end  sought.  The  attendance  officers 
must  realize  the  fact  that  their  efficiency  is  determined  largely  by  the 
number  of  children  they  place  in  school,  both  of  those  reported  to 

57 


them  as  absent  and  those  they  find  on  the  streets  of  their  respective 
districts,  who  are  of  the  compulsory  school  age.  Excuses  are  useful 
if  they  help  to  place  the  children  in  school.  The  amount  and  char- 
acter of  the  instruction,  exclusive  of  any  printed  regulations,  that  is 
given  to  the  attendance  officers  by  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Educa- 
tion, has  not  been  determined.  From  some  of  the  reports  received 
from  principals  and  judging  from  the  reports  on  the  attendance  cards, 
it  would  be  recommended  that  the  Bureau  give  instructions  to  the 
attendance  officers  in  order  that  they  may  properly  and  efficiently  per- 
form their  part  in  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law 
and  not  degrade  their  position  to  one  of  obtaining  reasons  for  absences. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  compulsory  attendance  law  does  not 
properly  provide  for  the  granting  of  employment  affidavits.  If  the 
Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  is  charged  with  the  responsibility 
of  placing  in  school,  and  keeping  there  in  regular  daily  attendance, 
all  the  children  between  8  and  14  years  and  those  not  employed 
between  14  and  16  years,  it  should  be  given  the  power  to  grant  all 
the  employment  affidavits. 

Whether  the  Bureau  of  Complsory  Education  has  an  efficiently 
organized  system  for  enforcing  the  compulsory  attendance  law  can,  in 
part,  be  decided  from  the  facts  given  above.  The  lack  of  an  accurate 
school  census  and  incomplete  and  carelessly  kept  attendance  records 
seem  to  show  that  the  present  organization  of  the  bureau  for  enforc- 
ing the  compulsory  attendance  law  is  not  sufficient  or  complete  enough 
to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  it  or  properly  regulate  or  use  the 
forces  that  must  co-operate  with  it.  The  blanks  used  in  making  the 
different  reports  used  in  enforcing  the  law,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
examined,  seem  to  be  adequate  for  the  purpose.  The  lack  of  unifor- 
mity in  the  school  records  which  are  used  in  enforcing  the  compulsory 
attendance  law,  and  the  carelessly  recorded  data  on  the  attendance 
cards  have  the  marks  of  inefficiency.  The  cause  and  responsibility 
for  this  state  of  affairs  will  not  be  centered  on  the  Bureau  of  Com- 
pulsory Education  entirely  since  it  is  not  known  what  authority  the 
Bureau  has  in  making  demands  of  the  teachers  to  furnish  the  data 
necessary  for  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law,  in 
the  way  that  it  may  deem  most  advantageous  for  such  enforcement. 
The  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education,  however,  realizes  that  the 
records  on  the  attendance  cards  are  not  kept  as  accurately  as  they 
should  be.  It  is  not  known  whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  with 

58 


a  view  to  correcting  this  deficiency  and  incompleteness  of  the  attend- 
ance records  in  the  schools. 

Inadequacy  of  records,  looseness  of  organization  and  disregard  of 
certain  provisions  of  the  law  have  been  clearly  proved.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  adequate  records,  the  operation  of  the  compulsory  attendance 
law  can  not  be  accurately  tested.  The  absence  of  adequate  records 
is  in  itself  a  demonstration  of  inefficiency  and  lack  of  organization. 
Under  such  conditions,  the  law  of  compulsory  attendance  can  not  be 
efficiently  enforced. 


59 


CHIEF  SOURCES. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Philadelphia,  1877-1907. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Phil- 
adelphia, 18974908. 

Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  of  Philadelphia,  1902, 
1904,  1905,  1908. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  for  Penn- 
sylvania, 18774908. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education. 

Journal  of  the  Philadelphia  Board  of  Education,  1892-1908. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  of  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  1907. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
1907. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  1906. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1907. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  of  Harristourg, 
Pennsylvania,  1907. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  New  York,  1907. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  1907. 

United  States  Census  Reports,  1870,  1880,  1890,  1900. 

United  States  Census  Yearly  Reports,  1905,  1906,  1907. 

AUTHORITIES. 

F.  H.  Giddings,  The  School  and  Legal  Aspect  of  Compulsory  Educa- 

tion and  Child  Labor,  National  Educational  Association,  1905  Re- 
iport,  pages  111413. 

G.  H.  Martin,  Child  Labor  and  Compulsory  Education, — The  School  As- 

pect, National  Educational  Association  Proceedings,  1905,  pages 
103411. 

James  D.  Sullivan,  A  Summary  of  the  Compulsory  Attendance  and 
Child  Labor  Laws  of  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United 
States,  Albany,  New  York, — State  Educational  Department,  1907. 

F.  V.  N.  Painter,  Luther  on  Education. 

The  Early  Withdrawal  of  Children  from  School, — Addresses  delivered 
'before  the  Philadelphia  Teachers'  Association,  1907. 

L.  Von  Bokkelen,  Compulsory  Education,— ^Circular  of  information  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  December  1871. 

George  H.  Martin,  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  Sys- 
tem, 1894., 

Wm.  H.  Maxwell,  The  Nation,  April  25th,  1907,  page  380. 

Wm.  H.  Maxwell,  Present  Problems  of  the  School,  Educational  Re- 
view, November  1904,  V.  28,  pages  378-395. 

Julia  Richman,  Tlhe  Incorrigible  Child,  Educational  Review,  May  1906, 
V.  31,  pages  484-506. 

Stratton  D.  Brooks,  Causes  of  Withdrawal  from  School,  Educational 
Review,  Novemlber  1903,  V.  26,  pages  362-393. 

J.  W.  Perrin,  Beginnings  in  Compulsory  Education,  Educational  Re- 
view, March  1903,  V.  25,  pages  240-248. 

Indirect  Compulsory  Education. — The  Factory  Laws  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  Educational  Review,  April  1906,  V.  31,  383-394. 

J.  W.  Perrin,  History  of  Compulsory  Education  in  New  England  (The- 
«ta). 

Snedden  and  Allen,  School  Reports  and  School  Efficiency. 


DAY    AND 
OVERDUE. 


1933 


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